Mexichromis cf. mariei
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Family: Chromodorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Western Indian Ocean.
PHOTO
Suakin, Sudan, Red Sea, April 1980. PHOTO: Chris Todd.
I initially (Rudman, 1973, 1983) identified these animals from the western Indian Ocean with Mexichromis mariei, but perhaps it should be considered a distinct species. It seems to be consistently different in having bluish purple rather than reddish purple spots.
References:
• Rudman, W.B. (1973) Chromodorid opisthobranch Mollusca from the Indo-West Pacific. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 52(3): 175-199, 7 figs, 2 col. pl.
• Rudman, W.B. (1983) The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Chromodoris splendida, C. aspersa and Hypselodoris placida colour groups. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 78: 105-173.
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (January 16) Mexichromis cf. mariei [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/mexicfma
Related messages
Mexichromis festiva from South Africa
April 25, 2008
From: Colin Ogden
Hi Bill,
Could this be a Mexichromis festiva, or is it a Mexichromis cf mariei?
I think it looks like M. festiva, but they are not supposed to be here. (I know the nudis don't read our books so they don't care about where they are supposed to be and are full of surprises)
Locality: Sodwana Bay, 20 metres, South Africa, Indian, 05 September 2007, reef. Length: 25 mm. Photographer: Colin Ogden.
Regards
Colin
scubaco@iafrica.com
Ogden C M, 2008 (Apr 25) Mexichromis festiva from South Africa. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20672Dear Colin,
I think I will just call it Mexichromis cf mariei. Basically I suspect a number of these species may be just forms of each other. When I was at school, I was a keen shell collector and belonged to a shell club at the Auckland Museum and if we were very lucky the great New Zealand expert A.W.B. Powell would visit and help identify any problem shells we brought along. I had made friends with a trawlerman who used to give me rare finds from offshore New Zealand. One group of particular difficulty were volutes. New Zeland either had a few species which were very variable in shape and colour or a lot of species each with very small geographic ranges. Over some months I took the same shell along with different locality data and got 3 different species names. Apart from one friend, I never told anyone I did it, but it did give me an insight into the problems of identifying animals from single specimens, and the dangers of being an 'expert'. I guess Mexichromis could be my penance for tricking Dr Powell so many years ago.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Mexichromis cf. mariei from South Africa
August 3, 2005
From: Colin Ogden
Hi Bill,
The photo here I think is a Mexichromis, but I can't identify which one.
Locality: Sodwana Bay, South Africa. Indian Ocean coast. Depth: 19 metres. Length: 20 mm. Dec 2004. Coral reef. Photographer: Colin Ogden
Your help is much appreciated.
Regards
Colin
scubaco@iafrica.com
Ogden C M, 2005 (Aug 3) Mexichromis cf. mariei from South Africa. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14457Dear Colin,
This is a species of Mexichromis from the Indian Ocean which I am at present calling Mexichromis cf. mariei to differentiate it from Mexichromis mariei (Crosse, 1872) from the western Pacific. The spots are usually much bluer. It is possible they are all forms of the one species but I am having difficulty finding a consistent pattern at present.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Mexichromis from South Africa
March 25, 2000
From: Valda Fraser
Dear Bill
Please identify this nudibranch. The only one that I can find that looks vaguely like it is Chromodoris loringi.
Locality: South Coast KwaZulu-Natal SOUTH AFRICA. Hibberdene - 24m
Date: April/November 1999
Size: 20mm/15mm
I decided to include both photos to illustrate colour variation.
Regards
Valda Fraser
iti04937@mweb.co.za
Fraser, V., 2000 (Mar 25) Mexichromis from South Africa. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1657Dear Valda,
This is a species of Mexichromis which I am at present calling Mexichromis cf. mariei to differentiate the Indian Ocean form from Mexichromis mariei (Crosse, 1872) from the western Pacific. There is a photo of your colour form on the Forum from Red Sea, and I reported specimens from India, some years ago (Rudman,1983).
At present I am not sure how many purple-spotted species of Mexichromis there are. If you get the chance to photograph its eggs or its food sponge it could be very useful. Also any other colour variants could be interesting.
Bill Rudman.
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Mar 25). Comment on Mexichromis from South Africa by Valda Fraser. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1657