Hypselodoris saintvincentius from Western Australia

July 19, 2005
From: Mick Tait

Dear Bill,
Thanks for your feedback [#14263]. I am very new to U/W Photography and identifying Nudibranchs. I've got my 'L' plates on.

This particular photo was originally identified as Hypselodoris infucata using the book Sea Slugs of Western Australia by Fred E. Wells & Clayton W. Bryce. I refer to page 114-115 #140. If others have a copy of this book, I'd like to receive comments about this identification. I may be that there is some confusion for this identification in the book. Should it actually be identified as Hypselodoris saintvincentius?

Locality: Bell Beach Rockingham, Cockburn Sound, Western Australia. Depth: 12 m. Length: 35 mm. 18 June 2005. Sandy/Silt Bottom. Photographer: Mick Tait

Mick Tait

mick@bluesphere.com.au

Tait, M, 2005 (Jul 19) Hypselodoris saintvincentius from Western Australia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14285

Dear Mick,
I'm afraid nothing the first lesson you will learn is that there is an awful lot we don't know. I suspect I may have suggested Fred & Clay identify their photo as H. infucata when they weere preparing their book, as I had serious doubts about whether H. saintvincentius was good species or just a peculiar geographic colour variant of Hypselodoris infucata. Your side view here shows the diamond shaped pattern which I recently mentioned [message #14188]. However a recent study has decided that it is a good species so at least for the present, that's what I am calling it. Although changing names can be irritating, it is also a sign that someone is researching the animals, so that's a good thing. 

  • Johnson, R. F. and Valdés, A. (2001) The Hypselodoris infucata, H. obscura and H. saintvincentius species complex (Mollusca, Nudibranchia, Chromodorididae), with remarks on the genus Brachyclanis Ehrenberg, 1831. Journal of Natural History 35: 1371-1398.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Jul 19). Comment on Hypselodoris saintvincentius from Western Australia by Mick Tait. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14285

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