Platydoris pulchra? - yellow eggs

October 17, 2003
From: Charles Rowe


Hi Bill,
We managed to get a dive in on Saturday but the vis was miserable only 2-3 metres so my nose was stuck to the reef. Fortunately I managed to get some really good photos including the ones below. All were taken on 11 October 2003 at Whitesands Port Elizabeth at 14 metres.

When I took this one I could only see the beautiful eggs and so took 3 shots. On downloading them onto my PC and examining the shot more closely I am convinced this is of another nudi, which I haven't seen before, laying those yellow eggs! Can you believe my joy at getting these photos. As you can tell I was concentating on the eggs and so the nudi is not as clear as I would have liked.
See ya.
Charles ...

bumff@mweb.co.za

Rowe, C., 2003 (Oct 17) Platydoris pulchra? - yellow eggs. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11247

Dear Charles,
Thanks for this shot. It's most likely the egg ribbon belongs to the slug but we need 'smoking gun' evidence to be sure. The nudibranch is quite an interesting find as well. I think it is probably Platydoris pulchra, which at present is known further north from Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar and Sri Lanka. The other possibility is Dendrodoris caesia which is endemic to South Africa. The blue spots around the edge are similar to those describes sometimes for that species. One clear difference between the two is that species of Platydoris have a tough leathery feel, and the mantle skirt is fairly rigid, while in species of Dendrodoris the body feels smooth and mantle and body are soft and fleshy. Perhaps Terry Gosliner can give us his opinion on this animal
Best wishes
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Oct 17). Comment on Platydoris pulchra? - yellow eggs by Charles Rowe. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11247

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