Is this also Chromodoris quadricolor?

October 25, 2005
From: Jacob Dafni

Dear Bill,
In the northern Red Sea we have already identified, aided by your guidance, five species of the  C. quadricolor complex: , Chromodoris quadricolor, C. hamiltoni, C. kuiteri, C. africana and lately also C. strigata.

Locality: Meridian Beach, Eilat, Israel. Red Sea. Depth: 8-14 m. 12 September 2003. Coral rubble. Photographer: Michael Levin

I wonder whether the attached slug, photographed by Michael Levin in 2003, which I maintained to be a unconventional color variation of C. quadricolor, is not C. magnifica? Typically, this last species exhibits more stripes, and in the Philippines or PNG it shows different color patterns, but pictures exhibited in your forum, such as (1) your picture from Heron Island, 1983 and (2) your identification of a picture taken by Clay Bryce in W. Australia in April 26, 1999, may suggest that the attached is also C. magnifica. Would you comment on this?

Jacob

jdafni@netvision.net.il

Dafni, J., 2005 (Oct 25) Is this also Chromodoris quadricolor?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15098

Dear Jacob,
I am sure as I can be that these are C. quadricolor. There is a distinct bluish tinge in the white bands. One feature that distinguishes C. magnifica is that its orange border is definitely submarginal. There is a distinct white band right at the edge. In some photos of C. quadricolor there appears to be a white band at the edge, but it is much narrower and is an artifact of photography, the thin edge appearing colourless.

It is interesting that the larger animal shows a hint of black between the orange border and the inner white band at the posterior end of the mantle - a bit like in C. kuiteri? Perhaps the animal in Matan Ninio's message [#14975], which I identified as C. kuiteri, is in fact an even blacker form of C. quadricolor. I am not that  comfortable with the idea that C. kuiteri occurs in the Red Sea, since we have no other records of it in between.

There are always going to be puzzles when you get a group of very similar looking species in one geographic area. I have found there is a time when learning about the biology of the populations is probably more useful than looking again at the anatomy. So all I can say is try and get photos of the various colour forms mating, feeding, laying eggs etc.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Oct 25). Comment on Is this also Chromodoris quadricolor? by Jacob Dafni. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15098

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