Aldisa albatrossae
Elwood, Valdés, & Gosliner, 2000

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Dorididae

PHOTO

Upper Photo: Holotype specimen (California Academy of Sciences, CASIZ 89034).Length: 19mm., Depth: 20', Seragaki, Okinawa, 3 April 1993.
Lower Photo: Lengths: 16mm + 22mm, Depth: 10'., Seragaki, Okinawa., 18 Feb 2000. Photos: R.F.Bolland.

The following description of external characters is modified from the original description of Elwood, et al. (2000):
The dorsum of the living animal is a translucent bluish gray, darker at the edges of the mantle and lighter towards the middle of the body. The mantle is covered by numerous white rounded tubercles, and has a distinctive black pattern, which is virtually identical in all specimens examined. There is a black elongate patch in front of the rhinophores. From this patch there is a thin black line running back between the rhinophores to link to a black rectangular mark which runs back to just enclose the gills. A secondary black line runs across the front of the gill pocket. These characteristic black markings can also be seen in the preserved specimens. There is also a pattern of yellow-orange markings on the mantle, associated with the corners of the black rectangular pattern. The rhinophores are translucent off-white and lamellate, containing 18 lamellae in a 21 mm long specimen. The gills are similarly coloured and range from 6-9 in number. They are bipinnate and relatively sparsely branched.

Each rhinophore is surrounded by four tubercles. These tubercles also alternate large and small with the larger tubercles on the left and right sides of each rhinophore. The anterior portion of the foot is grooved but not notched. The head has short oral tentacles with a short groove along their outer edge. Grows to 22mm long.

See Aldisa erwinkoehleri and Aldisa williamsi.

Reference:
Elwood, H.R., Valdés, Á., & Gosliner, T.M. (2000) Two new species of Aldisa Bergh, 1878 (Mollusca, Nudibranchia) from the Tropical Indo-Pacific. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 52(14): 171-181, 5 figs.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2003 (August 28) Aldisa albatrossae Elwood, Valdés, & Gosliner, 2000. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/aldialba

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