Chromodoris annulata
Eliot, 1904

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Family: Chromodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

Indian Ocean. One record from eastern Pacific.

PHOTO

UPPER: Sewer Pipe, North Head, entrance to harbour, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, September 1974. (Grows to 100mm long). PHOTO: Bill Rudman.
LOWER: Phi Phi Is., Southern Thailand, 7-15m, November 1989. PHOTO: D.J.Brunckhorst

This brilliantly coloured chromodorid is relatively common in East Africa and occurs as far east as Thailand. There is a characteristic purple ring around the gills and the rhinophores.

Compare with the very similarly coloured Risbecia ghardaqana and Risbecia pulchella, which occur with it in the Red Sea, and Risbecia imperialis which is found in the western Pacific. [See message on this topic].

There is one record of this species from the Gulf of California (Bertsch & Kerstitch, 1984). Any further records of this species outside the Indian Ocean would be very welcome as its apparent absence from the western Pacific would suggest the eastern Pacific record may have been with human assistance.

References:
• Gohar, H. A. F., & I. A. Aboul-Ela. 1957a. The development of three chromodorids (with the description of a new species). Publications of the Marine Biological Station, Al-Ghardaqa, Egypt, 9: 203-228, pls. 1-5.
• Rudman, W.B. (1973). Chromodorid opisthobranch Mollusca from the Indo-West Pacific. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 52(3): 175-199.
• Rudman, W.B. (1987). The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Chromodoris epicuria, C. aureopurpurea, C. annulata, C. coi and Risbecia tryoni colour groups. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 90: 305-407.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (April 11) Chromodoris annulata Eliot, 1904. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=chroannu

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  20. Re: Magnificent spotless Chromodoris annulata
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