Hypselodoris sp. 5
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Chromodorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Caribbean
PHOTO
Little Cayman, Cayman Ids, Caribbean. [on a vertical section of Bloody Bay Wall, at 16m]. Jan 19, 2002. Photo: Rod Dickson.
Note added 25 March 2008: This species, which has been called Hypselodoris sp. 5 on the Forum, has now been named Hypselodoris olgae - see that fact Sheet and message #22347.
This animal is almost certainly the same as the one in Humann's book [Hypselodoris sp. p235]. It is also identical to the animal Thompson, (1980) identified from Jamaica as Hypselodoris bayeri but as Thompson notes, his animal had considerable colour differences from H. bayeri as originally described by Marcus & Marcus 1967 from Florida. True H. bayeri has deep blue rhinophores and a series of yellow lonmgitudinal lines down the back. It also lacks the break in the mantle border halfway down each side. Thompson reports numerous live specimens creeping over coral sand near Discovery Bay and Port Royal (16-30 mm long). He twice found them feeding on a dark brown encrusting sponge.
Apart from the general colour pattern, distinctive features of the colour pattern include the white rhinophore clubs with blue tips, the simple white gills edged in blue, and the regular pattern of dark patches down the mantle, including the pair midway down the mantle which form a break in the white band around the mantle edge.
- Thompson, T.E. (1980) Jamaican opisthobranch molluscs: II. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 46(1): 74-99.
Rudman, W.B., 2002 (January 26) Hypselodoris sp. 5 [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/hypssp5
