Platydoris cruenta
(Quoy & Gaimard, 1832)
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Dorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Tropical West Pacific.
PHOTO
Ilot Rat (=I. de la Table), near Koumac, New Caledonia, 20°33.7'S, 164°11'E, intertidal, mixed substrate, 12 October 1993, 84mm long alive. Photos: Bill Rudman.
Very similar to Platydoris scabra but has brown lines instead of brown specks, and also large red patches. The underside of the mantle is white with brown lines near the foot, and scattered red patches. The sole of the foot can also have brown lines. See P. scabra page for comparison with similarly coloured species. Grows to about 10cm long. I know of no records from the Indian Ocean.
Reference:
• Quoy, J.R. & Gaimard, J.P. (1832). Voyages de découvertes de l`Astrolabe pendant les annees 1826-1829 sous le commandement de M.J. Dumont d`Urville. Zoologie, 2: 1-686.
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (September 11) Platydoris cruenta (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/platcrue
Related messages
Re: Platydoris cruenta from the Philippines
July 22, 2008
From: Marcel Tanke
Concerning message #16886:
Hi Bill,
A few more pictures of Platydoris cruenta. It was moving quite fast on a sandy bottom.
Locality: Anilao, 10 meters, Philippines, 12 July 2008 , sandy bottom. Length: 10 cm. Photographer: Marcel Tanke.
Best regards,
Marcel
marceltanke@cs.com
Tanke, M.A., 2008 (Jul 22) Re: Platydoris cruenta from the Philippines. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21721
Thanks Marcel,
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2008 (Jul 22). Comment on Re: Platydoris cruenta from the Philippines by Marcel Tanke. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21721Re: Platydoris striata or P. cruenta from Reunion Is.
April 25, 2008
From: Philibert Bidgrain
Concerning message #20542:
Dear Bill,
Reunion Island seaslugs
In our island we have found this pattern of coloration for Platydoris species.
It looks like P. cruenta but with very small red patches on the dorsal side and no red patches on the underside - But it also looks like P. striata except fot the presence of the small red spots [see message #20614 ]...
Locality: Saint Leu, 10 m, Reunion Island, Indian Ocean, 14 March 2007. Length: 60-70 mm. Photographer: Florence Trentin.
What's your opinion about this specimen?
Best regards
Philibert Bidgrain
http://vieoceane.free.fr/runseaslug/indexslug.htm
pbidgrain@yahoo.fr
Dear Philibert,
I would agree there is little to separate P. striata and P. cruenta other than the red spots in the latter and Dorgan et al (2002) consider P. striata to be a synonym of P. cruenta. However as I have discussed previously [message #20542] I think we need a real case to be made for synonymising the two species, especially since Dorgan et al consider two unlined species of Platydoris, which differ mainly in the presence or absence of red spots, to be separate species.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Platydoris cruenta - egg laying and mating?
June 24, 2006
From: R. Grooters & M. Snoek
Hello Bill,
Here are two pictures of Platydoris cruenta which we think, are laying egg ribbons after mating. Since there isn't much on this species on the forum, we thought it might be of interest.
Locality: Anilao, Batangas, 7 metres, Philippines, West Pacific, 17 November 2005, Sand and coral patches. Length: 10 cm. Photographer: Reindert Grooters.
Reindert Grooters and Mieke Snoek
mieke.reindert@chello.nl
Dear Reindert & Mieke,
Thanks for these interesting photos. The Platydoris are not mating and egg-laying as you thought, but the orange bits you thought were eggs are in fact a sponge that the two slugs are eating. If you look at the close-ups you can see where the sponge has been damaged by their activities. This is a very interesting record as I am pretty sure that there is no information in the scientific literature on the type of sponge this species eats. I can't tell you what the sponge is off-hand but I think there is enough in your photo for a sponge expert to give at least a tentative identification.
By coincidence I am just posting a message on a feeding cluster of Hypselodoris fontandraui [message #16948]. In that message I mention that when you see a group of nudibranchs together your first thought should be that they are feeding - the close proximity may lead to mating, but it's usually the food that brings them together.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Platydoris cruenta with red and orange patches
June 24, 2002
From: Julie Marshall
Dear Bill,
Attached are two photos of Platydoris cruenta, one with the usual blood red patches on its mantle and the other with smaller orange patches. The first animal was found at Heron Island [southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland] under a dead coral slab at the reef crest, and the other one was found on nearby Wilson Island.
Best wishes,
Julie Marshall
juliemarshall@netspace.net.au
Marshall, J., 2002 (Jun 24) Platydoris cruenta with red and orange patches. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7321Thanks Julie,
Bill Rudman
Platydoris cruenta from the Philippines
March 3, 2001
From: Erwin Köhler
Dear Bill,
Here is a photo of Platydoris cruenta from the Philippines, Negros Oriental Is., depth 15m, size about 5 cm. The photo was taken by Georg Heinze [GeorgHeinze@t-online.de] in May 2000
Cheers
Erwin
Medslugs.Koehler@t-online.de
Koehler, E., 2001 (Mar 3) Platydoris cruenta from the Philippines. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3736Thanks Erwin,
These are very colorful animals with a very appropriate [cruenta = blood spattered] name
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
