Chromodoris britoi from French Mediterranean

July 29, 2003
From: Marina Poddubetskaia

Dear Bill,
Here are some Chromodoris britoi from Cerbere. This species is similar to Chromodoris krohni. As discussed last year, the main characteristic to distinguish them is the presence of a dark yellow or orange spot in the centre of the median line in C. britoi. This distinctive feature is well visible in second photo. For comparison, the lower right photo is of Chromodoris krohni and it hasn't any darker spot.

All are from Cerbere, France, Mediterranean coast:
Upper Right Photo: C. britoi July 09, 2003. Location : Site: L'Ocell. Depth: 15m. Size: 20mm
Lower Left Photo: C. britoi July 10, 2003. Site: La Ramere. Depth: 15m. Size: 10-12mm
Lower Right Photo: C. krohni July 13, 2003. Site : Les Chambres. Depth: 8m. Size: 12-14mm
Photos: Marina Poddubetskaia - Nembro website

Cordially,
Marina.

nembro@nembro.info

Poddubetskaia, M., 2003 (Jul 29) Chromodoris britoi from French Mediterranean. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10548

Thanks Marina,
I guess by 'dark spot' you mean the area where the pigment seems darker or more intense in the centre of the mantle. I think probably a more reliable external character would be the colour of the gills and rhinophores. In C. britoi the rhinophore clubs seem to be translucent white with a white line up the posterior midline, with a bluish purple line on either side and a third up the anterior midline. In some animals with a more intense blue pigmentation, the rhinophores appear blue but the posterior white line is still visible. The gills are also translucent with a bluish purple line up the inside and outside edge. In C. krohni both the gills and rhinophores seem to have a more uniform pigmentation, animals such as yours having a uniform translucent wine-red tinge wit some white speckling and in other animals illustrated on the Forum the colour becomes a more intense purplish red or even dark blue, but it is always a single colour.

I have included some close-ups of your photo of C. krohni in a separate message to show distinctive colour features of that species.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Jul 29). Comment on Chromodoris britoi from French Mediterranean by Marina Poddubetskaia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10548

Factsheet

Chromodoris britoi

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