Platydoris sabulosa
Dorgan, Valdes & Gosliner, 2002
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Dorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Known only from the Philippines and southeast Queensland
PHOTO
Old Woman Island near Mooloolaba, 14 m, under a rock. Sunshine Coast, Australia, 140 mm long. 2 June 2007. Photo: Gary Cobb.
The body shape is typical for the genus with a wide mantle skirt and relatively narrow body, The mantle skirt is firm and leathery to touch. The edge of the gill pocket is raised and lobed, and the rhinophore pockets are slightly raised. The mantle has a translucent white background colour but it is mainly obscured by many light greyish brown patches and a few darker reddish brown patches, especially around the edge. The gills and rhinophres also have mottled brown markings. The underside of the mantle is translucent white with an inner ring of brown patches which can merge into one another. The sides of the body/foot have a few small brown patches. Only two specimens have been reported, the holotype which was 123 mm long preserved, and the specimen illustrated here which was 140 mm long alive.
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Dorgan, K.M., Valdes, A. & Gosliner, T.M. (2002) Phylogenetic systematics of the genus Platydoris (Mollusca, Nudibranchia, Dorididea) with descriptions of six new species. Zoologica Scripta, 31(3): 271-319.
Rudman, W.B., 2007 (June 14) Platydoris sabulosa Dorgan, Valdes & Gosliner, 2002. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/platsabu
Related messages
Platydoris sabulosa from Queensland
June 21, 2007
From: Gary Cobb
Hi Bill
Thought you might be interested in a critter I found Saturday [2 June 2007] on the Sunshine Coast, Australia, at a dive site called Old Woman Island near Mooloolaba in 14 m of water from under a rock. It was 140 mm long.
Richard Willan identified it for me as Platydoris sabulosa. It will be preserved for the Museum of Darwin's wet collection. I knew nothing of it until now. I think this is a great find!
Cheers
Gary Cobb
gary@nudibranch.com.au
Dear Gary,
Yes this is an interesting find. Terry Gosliner has confirmed the identification and so it certainly helps clarify the external features of this species for me. I had wondered before if this species was Platydoris noumeae Risbec, 1928 but Dorgan, Valdes & Gosliner (2002) looked at the holotype of that species and considered it to be a synonym of P. scabra - which certainly fits Risbec's specific description of yellow rhinophores. It's good to add another species to the Forum
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
