Chromodoris nyalya

June 19, 2006
From: Bill Gomez

In May 2006 I saw a nudibranch that I believe is the same as or closely related to what my text by Paul Humann (Reef Creature Identification- Caribbean) identifies as Chromodoris nyalya, the Red-line Blue Sea Goddess. I saw a pair on algae that looked very similar in all aspects except the overall body color was cream rather than blue. All other markings and form seemed the same as his photo. Sorry, I have no photograph. I saw them in Abaco, the northern Bahamas. I was surprised that a search of your data base did not come up with this species. Has there been a name change?

Locality: Pelican Harbor, 3 meters, Abaco, the Bahamas, Atlaantic Ocean, 30 May 2006, sandy bottom with grass and algae. Length: approx. 1 cm. Photographer: none.

Bill Gomez
Atherton, Ca, USA

bgomez1@stanford.edu

Gomez, W., 2006 (Jun 19) Chromodoris nyalya. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16897

Dear Bill,
Although I haven't the name of every species of nudibranch listed, Chromodoris nyalya is but under the name Hypselodoris nyalya. From the anatomical information available I am pretty sure that Hypselodoris is the correct place for this species. If you are looking for a species on the Forum it always pays to search just for the species part of the name - in this case nyalya - rather than Chromodoris nyalya - because most of the common name changes involve a change of genus - in this case from Chromodoris to Hypselodoris.

As you will see from the messages we have on the Forum about this species, there can be some variability in the background colour. It would have been nice to have a photo of your cream variety.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Jun 19). Comment on Chromodoris nyalya by Bill Gomez. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16897

Factsheet

Hypselodoris nyalya

Related messages

  1. Hypselodoris nyalya from Kay Largo, Florida
    From: Paul Osmond, August 10, 2007
  2. Hypselodoris nyalya feeding
    From: Marina Poddubetskaia, March 8, 2004
  3. Hypselodoris nyalya from Florida
    From: Linda Ianniello, November 18, 2003
  4. Hypselodoris nyalya from Bimini, The Bahamas
    From: Paul Osmond, June 7, 2003
  5. Hypselodoris nyalya from the Bahamas
    From: Larry Townsend, May 29, 2003
  6. Nudibranch from Southern Bahamas
    From: Paul Young , September 10, 2002

Show factsheet and all related messages