Noumea alboannulata
Rudman, 1986
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Chromodorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Tropical Indo-west Pacific.
PHOTO
UPPER: Saumarez Reef, Coral Sea, 25mm long alive, October 1983, 10.5m, dislodged from rubble between bommies in the lagoon. PHOTO: I. Loch
LOWER: Suakin, Sudan, Red Sea, 11mm long alive, April 1980 PHOTO: Chris Todd.
The mantle is a translucent pink with a broad cream or off-white marginal band. on the insode edge of the marginal band is a series of reddish purple spots. There is a very distinctive opaque white band in the midline between the rhinophores which splits just behind the rhinophores to form an elongate oval which encircles the gill pocket. The gills and rhinophores are a translucent orange red. In a juvenile animal from the Red Sea the background colours are less intense but the characteristic white ovate ring dominates the colour pattern.
See the Noumea purpurea Colour Group Page to compare this species with others of similar colour.
Reference:
•Rudman,WB (1986): The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Noumea purpurea and Chromodoris decora colour groups. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 86(4): 309-353.
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (December 5) Noumea alboannulata Rudman, 1986. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/noumalbo
Related messages
Re: Thorunna florens for sthn Queensland
July 11, 2008
From: Gary Cobb
Concerning message #19027:
Nice to see another animal has been found! I found the same animal off Mooloolaba. Richard Willan has identified it as a colour form of Noumea alboannulata Rudman, 1986. If you look at it carefully you can see the marking are all the same. [see message #20913 ]
Locality: Shellacey Reef, Sunshine Coast, Mooloolaba, 20 m, Queensland, Australia, Pacific Ocean, 08 October 2007, Subtidal. Length: 24 mm. Photographer: Gary Cobb.
Cheers
Gary
gary@nudibranch.com.au
Cobb, G.C., 2008 (Jul 11) Re: Thorunna florens for sthn Queensland. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21562
Dear Gary,
I presume these are the animals photographed in your earlier message [#20913] in which I agreed the spotted one was probably a strange colour form of N. alboannulata. Clearly I had forgotten about this strange colour form when I answered Bruce Wilkie's message [#19027 ] and tentatively identified his similar animal as Thorunna florens. After having been tricked over many years by some of these small Noumea - Thorunna animals, I hesitate to give confident identifications until I have a look at their anatomy. There are enough examples now of pairs of species which look almost identical externally, but quite different internally, to make me hesitate. Not even the orange patch at the front of the mantle in Thorunna florens is always present, and it can also be found in other species of Thorunna as well.
Certainly your animals with two rows of orange-ringed white spots link quite well with Bruce Wilkie's animals so I'll move it to the N. alboanulata page. But until its anatomy is looked at, I think we should consider any name we give it to be tentative.
Thanks for drawing my attention to my inconsistency
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Re: Thorunna florens for sthn Queensland
July 11, 2008
From: Bruce Wilkie
Concerning message #19027:
Hi Bill,
Received an e-mail from Gary Cobb regarding this animal. Richard Willan has identified it as a color form of Noumea alboannulata. What do you think?
Cheers,
Bruce Wilkie.
brucedwilkie@yahoo.com.au
Wilkie, B, 2008 (Jul 11) Re: Thorunna florens for sthn Queensland. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21692Thanks Bruce,
I am posting a message today from Gary [ #21562] about this very animal. As it happens I posted a message from Gary a few months ago [#20913] with a very similar animal which I agreed was probably N. alboannulata.
I guess it is a good example of why I am often quite tentative in identifying some of these small chromodorids.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Thorunna florens for sthn Queensland
May 6, 2008
From: Bruce Wilkie
Hi Bill,
I have had this animal on file for quite some time and I have not been able to ID it. Can you help?
Locality: Manta Bommie, Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island, 8 metres, Queensland Australia, Pacific ocean, , rocky reef with sponges, hard & soft corals.Upper Photos: 04 December 2005 Length: 15 mm. Lower Photo: 31 December 2005, Depth 10 m. Photographer: Bruce Wilkie.
Many Thanks,
Bruce Wilkie.
brucedwilkie@yahoo.com.au
Wilkie,B, 2008 (May 6) Thorunna florens for sthn Queensland. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19027
Note added 11 July 2008: This seems to be an extreme colour form of Noumea alboannulata [see message #21562].
Dear Bruce,
This has some similarities to the southern Australian species Digidentis perplexa but I am pretty sure it is one of the colour forms of Thorunna florens. The purple submarginal border and the double line of orange are characteristic of the species. Both lines can be broken, or even reduced to a row of spots. Some specimens have an orange patch in the anterior midline of the mantle and some don't. It is possible there is more than on species in this complex but few specimens are available for anatomical study and there seems to be few internal differences in the anatomy.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Noumea alboannulata from sthn Queensland
October 16, 2007
From: Gary Cobb
Concerning message #20891:
Hi Bill and everyone!
After reading the entry from the Solomons I thought you might like entries from sthn Queensland. This species is fairly common here off the Sunshine Coast. Being found at Noosa, Old Woman Is, Inner Gneerings as well as Moreton Is. at the Cementco wreck and a couple of reefs near by.
I also thought you might like to see a colour form that is quite unusual. Even though the colours are quite vivid and the marking are quite broken it still has the fine qualities of Noumea alboannulata.
Locality: Sunshine Coast near Mooloolaba, 10-24 m, Queensland, Australia, Pacific Ocean, 08 October 2007, Subtidal. Length: 12-20 mm. Photographer: Gary Cobb and David Mullins.
Cheers,
Gary Cobb
gary@nudibranch.com.au
Cobb, G.C., 2007 (Oct 16) Noumea alboannulata from sthn Queensland. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20913
Thanks Gary,
The spotted one is certainly an interesting colour variant. The brownish streaks are obviously traces of the dark line which borders the white lines in more 'typical' specimens. Without these streaks I am sure this animal would have been in danger of being described as a separate species.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Noumea alboannulata from Solomon Ids
October 8, 2007
From: David Cram
This was found by Barbara Hanchard at the Leilei divespot in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Querying it to be some form of Hypselodoris sp. It's colour was an extremely pale pink.
Locality: Honiara, 15 m, Solomon Islands, 1/10/2007, Sandy rubble strewn gentle slope. Length: 35 mm. Photographer: David Cram.
David Cram
dcram@adra.org.fj
Cram, D.W., 2007 (Oct 8) Noumea alboannulata from Solomon Ids. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20891
Dear David,
I have never seen one as colourless as this before but from the shape of the white loop on the mantle I am sure this is Noumea alboannulata. We don't have many records of this species so this is a useful contribution to our knowledge of the species.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Noumea alboannulata from eastern Australia
June 20, 2007
From: Lynda Clarke
Hi Bill,
Could you please help us to identify this nudibranch, which was photgraphed by my buddy.
Locality: Julian Rocks, 10 to 15 metres, New South Wales, Australia, Pacific, 1st January 2007, rocky reef, t=24degrees. Length: less than 3cms. Photographer: Andrew Green.
thanks
Lynda
polymath@bigpond.com
Clarke, L., 2007 (Jun 20) Noumea alboannulata from eastern Australia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19398Dear Lynda,
If you look at the Fact Sheet from the Noumea purpurea colour group you will find quite a few species with similar colour patterns. This one is Noumea alboannulata.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
