Doto sp. 12
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DENDRONOTINA
Family: Dotidae
DISTRIBUTION
Papua New Guinea & Indonesia
PHOTO
Locality: Seraya, 15 m, Indonesia, Pacific, Aug. 2009, Sand. Length: 5-8 mm. Photographer: Johanna Gawron.
This strange animal is characterised by the shape of the cerata, which appear to consist of a stack of 3 or 4 discs. However from the accompanying photo we can see that only the top disc in each ceras is complete, the lower discs being cut away on the inner side to provide a space for the transparent gills.
It is Doto sp. 9 in Gosliner, Behrens & Valdes' comprehensive recent book Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and Sea Slugs.
Rudman, W.B., 2010 (April 15) Doto sp. 12 [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/dotosp12
Related messages
Cyerce or Doto?
April 15, 2010
From: Teresa (Zubi) Zuberbühler
I couldn't find the following slug in any of my nudibranch and slug identification books, I am not even sure if it a nudibranch (for example Doto sp.) or a slug (Cyerce sp).
On one of the pictures you can see some kind of gills between the Cerata.
Locality: Seraya, 15 m, Indonesia, Pacific, Aug. 2009, Sand. Length: 5-8 mm. Photographer: Johanna Gawron.
Teresa (Zubi) Zuberbühler
webmaster@starfish.ch
Dear Zubi,
This is indeed a strange animal. The gills on the inside of the peculiar cerata - they look like stacks of pancakes - and the shape of the sheathed rhinophores, make it almost certain that this is a species of Doto. It is Doto sp. 9 in Gosliner, Behrens & Valdes' comprehensive recent book Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and Sea Slugs.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
