Hypselodoris fontandraui from Cannes

June 2, 2006
From: Dominique Horst

Hello,

One more request for an id. I first thought this was Hypselodoris fontandraui. But looking in your species list I have some doubt, as the blue of it's mantle is not dark blue like on the picture...
But all others details seems to confirm.

Locality: Cannes, 35m, France, Mediterranean sea, 26 May 2006, rocks. Length: 50mm. Photographer: Dominique Horst.

Any suggestion will be very appreciate.
Many thanks in advance.
Kind regards,
Dominique

dominique.horst@wanadoo.fr

Horst, D., 2006 (Jun 2) Hypselodoris fontandraui from Cannes. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16751

Dear Dominique,
Yes these two animals are H. fontandraui.  I often say that the colour pattern is often more important than the actual colour. In this case the background can vary from pale to darker blue. Distinctive things to look out for - but they are not always all present - are the irregular yellow marks attached to the median line and the yellow marks on the base of the rhinophores. 

One interesting feature in the second animal [in the photo alongside] is that each gill has small gills branching off it like a fern frond. If you compare that with the typical gills in the upper photo, you will see it is quite different. When I saw your photo I remembered seeing a similar photo once before. Have a look at Erwin Köhler's message [#5165] of another specimen of the same species with the same branched gills. It is either an unusual coincidence or perhaps something this species does as it gets larger.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Jun 2). Comment on Hypselodoris fontandraui from Cannes by Dominique Horst. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16751

Factsheet

Hypselodoris fontandraui

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