Dirona picta from California

February 18, 2004
From: Joseph Dougherty

Hello.
I'm hoping someone can help shed some light on the identity of this Dendronotus. It doesn't quite look like anything in Behren's book (1991). I haven't been able to uncover anything on the internet that looks like this specimen. Is this a variant of D. frondosus? I looked at a bunch of D. frondosus images and they just don't look quite like this.

This animal was photographed in Monterey Bay. It is as large as D. iris, and that is what I initially thought it was as I swam up to it, since they are common in the area I was diving. However, there are tubercles everywhere on this thing.
Unfortunately, I shoot with a Nikonos and I had the fixed macro setup on the camera, so I could not fit a whole body shot into the frame. But this individual was at least 12cm long (that's a conservative estimate). I'd appreciate any ID help anyone can offer.

Thanks!
Joseph Dougherty

josephd@ecology.org

Dougherty, J., 2004 (Feb 18) Dirona picta from California. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12227

Dear Joseph,
Nudibranchs have a terrible habit of looking like other species in quite different families. This is Dirona picta. One clue to its identity is the shape of the rhinophores. In species of Dendronotus, like all dendronotoideans, the rhinophores stalk is enclosed in a sheath, usually with a papillate collar. As you can see this is absent in your animal.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Feb 18). Comment on Dirona picta from California by Joseph Dougherty. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12227

Factsheet

Dirona picta

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