Doto orcha
Yonow, 200
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DENDRONOTINA
Family: Dotidae
DISTRIBUTION
Known only from the Red Sea
PHOTO
Eilat, "University", Israel, Red Sea (Gulf of Eilat). Depth: 6 m. Length: 8 mm. 15 July 2005. corals. Photographer: Binyamin and Shulamit Koretz
This species was described from a single preserved animal, 6mm long, and an accompanying colour photo. It was diagnosed as "body narrow, creamy white with longitudinal beige band, covered with tubercles; eight pairs of tuberculate cerata without pseudobranchs, simple rhinophore sheaths and digitiform rhinophores." In the fuller description the body is described as long. the cerata are irregularly tuberculate, and there are numerous white tubercles scatterd over the dorsum and sides of the body. Since the description was based on a single specimen we know nothing about this species variation in colour or shape. However it is most probable that this record from Benjamin Koretz [#15715 ] is Doto orcha. The animal illustrated here is proportionally much longer than Yonow's, but I don't know if that is just because it is crawling and Yonow's was at rest on a hydroid. The cerata are proportionally much smaller compared to the size of the body than in Yonow's. Also, Yonow described a distinct beige band down the dorsal midline, which is absent in Koretz's animal, which also shows a distinct dark spot at the inner base of each cerata.
Doto orcha was reported by Yonow from the thecate hydroid Dynamena disticha from the Gulf of Aqaba.
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Yonow, N. (2000) Red Sea Opisthobranchia 4: The orders Cephalaspidea, Anaspidea, Notaspidea and Nudibranchia: Dendronotacea and Aeolidacea. Fauna of Arabia, 18: 87-131.
Rudman, W.B., 2006 (February 2) Doto orcha Yonow, 200. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/dotoorch
Related messages
Doto orcha from the Red Sea
February 2, 2006
From: Binyamin Koretz
Dear Bill,
Since you and other Forum contributors have been sharing a lot of material on Doto spp, I would like to share our photos of what we think is Doto orcha Yonow, 2000.
I think that it's fairly rare, but since it's hard to see, I couldn't say whether that's the real reason why it's seldom seen.
Locality: Eilat, "University", Israel, Red Sea (Gulf of Eilat). Depth: 6 m. Length: 8 mm. 15 July 2005. corals. Photographer: Binyamin and Shulamit Koretz
Best regards
Binyamin
binyamin@koretz.net
Dear Binyamin,
It's nice to get a Doto from elsewhere in the world. I suspect you are right in identifying this as Doto orcha but since it was described from a single specimen - and we know how difficult Doto species are to distinguish - it is difficult to be 100% sure if the differences are just part of the normal intraspecies variation or not. For example your animal is proportionally much longer than Yonow's, but I don't know if that is just because yours was crawling and Yonow's was at rest on a hydroid. In your animal the cerata are proportionally much smaller compared to the size of the body than in Yonow's. Also she described a distinct beige band down the dorsal midline, which is absent in your animal, and yours show a distinct dark spot at the inner base of each cerata.
I suspect they are the same, but it illustrates the problems when species are described on single specimens.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
