Heterodoris antipodes
Willan, 1981
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: ARMININA
Family: Arminidae
DISTRIBUTION
Known from single specimen trawled from 1800 m off the west coast, South Island New Zealand (Willan, 1981) and a few specimens trawled off the east coast of New South Wales, Australia.
PHOTO
Locality: Off Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, [ FROM: 33 Deg 40.000 Min S, 151 Deg 56.000 Min E TO: 33 Deg 37.000 Min S, 151 Deg 58.000 Min E ± 10 km, Capture Depth From 497 m To 503 m]. Collector K. J. Graham, 2 October 1996, NSW Fisheries, FRV Kapala. 0612hrs. Trawled. Upper Slope Survey [Stn number K96-19-01]. AM C458631, 1 spm. [length approx 30 mm]. Photo: Alison Miller - preserved specimen.
First described from a single specimen trawled from 1800 m off the west coast, South Island, New Zealand (Willan, 1981), a few specimens have since been trawled off the east coast of New South Wales, Australia [see message #20052 ].
The animal has a broad heart-shaped mantle, the mantle skirt running from the outer base of each rhinophore down each side of the body to join at a point in the posterior midline. Between the rhinophores the mantle runs down anteriorly to merge wit the oral veil. The lamellate rhinophores are not retractile. There are scattered rounded tubercles over the mantle and a series of quite large tapering papillae. There are no gills. The anus opens on the right side of the body about two-thirds of the way back, and the genital opening is about one-third of the way down the right side.
Nothing is known of the colour of the living animal but Willand noted brown markings (spots, lines, patches) in the preserved specimen.
Heterodoris Verrill & Emerton is a little-known genus with three deep-water species known from few specimens, H. robusta from the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, H. ingolfiana from south of Iceland, and H. antipodes from the Tasman Sea. Bergh considered the genus to be close to the Tritoniidae but Odhner (1926) considered its anatomy linked it to the Arminidae, where it is usually placed today.
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Odhner, N.H. (1926) Nudibranchs and lamellariids from the Trondhjem Fjord. Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter, 1926 N.R. 2. Meddelelse fra Trondhjems Biologiske Statsjon N.R. 24, 1-36. (Pl.1)
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Verrill, A.A. & Emerton, J.H. (1882) [In] Verrill, A.A., Catalogue of marine mollusca added to the fauna of the New England region during the past 10 years. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Science, 5 (2): 548-549.
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Willan, R. C. (1981) A new abyssal arminacean nudibranch from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 8: 325-330.
Rudman, W.B., 2007 (June 28) Heterodoris antipodes Willan, 1981. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/heteanti
Related messages
A record of Heterodoris from New South Wales
July 2, 2007
From: Bill Rudman
I was walking past a wet bench at the museum and was asked to identify this specimen trawled off Sydney, New South Wales in eastern Australia. It is a specimen of the very interesting arminid genus Heterodoris, so since the chance of getting a live photo of this deep water animal is most unlikely I asked Alison Miller for a couple of photos for the Forum.
Locality: Off Sydney, NSW, FROM: 33 Deg 40.000 Min S, 151 Deg 56.000 Min E TO: 33 Deg 37.000 Min S, 151 Deg 58.000 Min E ± 10 km, Capture Depth From 497 m To 503 m, Collector K.J. Graham, 2 OCT 1996, Pres. NSW Fisheries, FRV "Kapala". 0612hrs. Trawled. Upper Slope Survey [Stn number K96-19-01]. AM C.458631, 1 spm. [length approx 30 mm].
It is most probably Heterodoris antipodes Willan, 1981, which was described from deep water off the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. This the third specimen that has been found by NSW Fisheries scientists off this part of the New South Wales coast since 1986.
PHOTOS: Dorsal, ventral and right lateral views of preserved animal -Alison Miller, Australian Museum.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
View of right side showing genital opening [on right] and anus.
