Thuridilla indopacifica
Gosliner, 1995
Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: ELYSIOIDEA
Family: Elysiidae
DISTRIBUTION
Known from South Africa, Seychelles Ids and Western Australia.
PHOTO
Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, Indian Ocean. Depth: 7 m. Length: 5 mm. 29 December 2004. silty bottom; on underside of rock covered with algae. Photographer: Kristin Anderson
The body is translucent green with scattered opaque white spots, very small in some animals, larger in others. The parapodia have a thin brownish black edge, then a broad band of yellow or orange, and then a band of black which has extensions at regular intervals down into the green part of the parapodia, In the spaces between the blackish extensions are bright blue bands which form a fourth, broken, band along the parapodial margin. The head is blue with a centrally placed Y-shaped opaque white patch, the arms of the Y extending up onto the rhinophores. The above the white, the rhinophores have bands of blue, black, orange-yellow and black. The anterior margin of the foot has a similar group of coloured bands. This species has been named 'indopacifica ' although at present its range is restricted to the Indian Ocean. Grows to at least 18 mm in length (Gosliner, 1987).
NOTE: Thuridilla sp. 3 [see message #13303 ] may be a colour form.
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Gosliner, T.M. (1987) Nudibranchs of Southern Africa. A Guide to the Opisthobranch Molluscs of Southern Africa. Sea Challengers / Jeff Hamann : Tokyo. 136pp.
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Gosliner, T.M. (1995) The genus Thuridilla (Opisthobranchia: Elysiidae) from the tropical Indo-Pacific, with a revision of ther phylogeny and systematics of the Elysiidae. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 49(1): 1-54.
Rudman, W.B., 2004 (December 31) Thuridilla indopacifica Gosliner, 1995. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/thurindo
Related messages
Thuridilla indopacifica from Oman
November 27, 2008
From: Brian Mayes
Hi Bill,
I thought you may like some photos of Thuridilla indopacifica from Oman, for colour and comparison.
Locality: "China Wreck", near Mirbat, 8 metres, Salalah, Oman, Arabian Sea, 17 Oct 2008, Wreck on shallow coral reef. Length: 25 mm. Photographer: Brian Mayes.
Kind Regards
Brian Mayes
brian.r.mayes@gmail.com
Mayes, B.R., 2008 (Nov 27) Thuridilla indopacifica from Oman. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22080
Dear Brian,
Thanks for these photos. We know little about colour variability in this species so your photos add a lot. For example Gosliner's description of the rhinophores notes that above the white there are bands of blue, black, orange-yellow and black. In the photos we already have on the Forum this detail is either absent in the specimens or missing in the photos. In your photos the colour bands are clearly visible.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Thuridilla indopacifica from Tanzania
March 12, 2005
From: Bill Rudman
I thought I had collected an animal similar to Thuridilla sp. 3 some time ago in east Africa so went looking for a photo and found this photo of an animal found by Greg Brown while visiting me in Tanzania.
Locality: Fungu Yasin, off Kunduchi Bch, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, October 1976, coll: G H Brown. Photo: Bill Rudman.
It clearly fits into the colour pattern of Thuridilla indopacifica but it also suggests that Thuridilla sp. 3 may be a colour form of that species. One of the charcteristic features of Thuridilla sp. 3 are the white rhinophores with a blue tip and a subterminal yellow band bordered with a thin black line. In this photo, the rhinophore colour only differs in that the black lines are replaced by a large black patch. The rest of the body/parapodia colouration falls within the colour range of T. indopacifica.
Any thoughts welcome
Bill Rudman
Thuridilla indopacifica from Sri Lanka
January 4, 2005
From: Marina Poddubetskaia
Dear Bill,
It's great that the Forum is working again. I'd like to wish a Happy New 2005 Year to all the Forum lovers with a lot of new nudibranchs and many messages to share these finds here.
Some days ago you posted a message [#12864] about Thuridilla indopacifica from Western Australia. I was in Sri Lanka in November and I saw there a similar Thuridilla but a little different from the original description of T. indopacifica. Do you think my animal could be this species ?
Locality: Goda Gala Wreck (I didn't see any wreck here :-) , Unawatuna, Sri Lanka, Indian Ocean. Depth: 8m. Length: 11mm. 8 November 2004, on a muddy bottom. Photos: Marina Poddubetskaia - Nembro website
Best wishes,
Marina.
nembro@nembro.info
Poddubetskaia, M. , 2005 (Jan 4) Thuridilla indopacifica from Sri Lanka. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12898Dear Marina,
Your animal certainly looks a little different from the one in the message from Western Australia, but your photo is almost identical to one in Wells & Bryce (1993: fig. 73) also from Western Australia, which Gosliner (1995) considers to be this species. Many species of Thuridilla are known from 5 or less records, so we still have quite a bit to learn about variability in the various species. I think at this stage it is best to follow Gosliner and treat these as colour forms of the same species.
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Wells, F.E. & Bryce, C.W. (1993) Sea Slugs of Western Australia Western Australian Museum: Perth. 184 pages.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Thuridilla indopacifica from Ningaloo Reef, W.A.
January 1, 2005
From: Kristin Anderson
The closest I can find is from H. Debelius' Nudibranchs & Sea Slugs Indo Pacific Field Guide pg 167 - Thuridilla indopacifica.
Is this correct or is it some other species?
Locality: Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, Indian Ocean
Depth: 7 m. Length: 5 mm. 29 December 2004
silty bottom; on underside of rock covered with algae
Photographer: Kristin Anderson
Kristin Anderson
kristin@exmouthdiving.com.au
Anderson, K.J., 2005 (Jan 1) Thuridilla indopacifica from Ningaloo Reef, W.A.. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12864Dear Kristin,
Yes this is Thuridilla indopacifica. It is not quite as spectacularly coloured as in Debelius's photo but is almost identical to a photo in Gosliner (1987 - photo 46, Elysia sp. 1) which Gosliner identifies as this species in his description of it (Gosliner, 1995). Nice to get another species to add to the Forum.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
