Doris ocelligera from Italy

September 8, 2006
From: Cristian Magnani

Dear Bill,
Last May while diving on my usual dive spot, I found a nudibranch I had never seen previously. I think it is a specimen of  Doris ocelligera and wish to add my picture to the forum since this nudibranch is not included in your species list.

Locality: Numana, 12.5 metres, Italy, Adriatic Sea, 20 May 2006, on shipwreck. Length: 25 mm. Photographer: Cristian Magnani.

Best regards
Cristian
http://www.nudibranchi.it/Eng_main.htm

info@nudibranchi.it

Magnani, C., 2006 (Sep 8) Doris ocelligera from Italy. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17678

Thanks Cristian,
It's good to add another species to the Forum. Your animal does seem to be Doris ocelligera. I guess the name ocelligera comes from the eye-like tubercles on its mantle. They look a bit like the eyes of a chameleon. However I suspect their real purpose is to look like pores or siphons on a sponge or ascidian colony so as to disguise the slug against predators. It is good to get a photo of the egg ribbon as well.

After looking at your photos, I am pretty sure the unidentified dorid from Tunisia [message #9885] which I tentatively identified as Doris ocelligera, is the same thing.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Sep 8). Comment on Doris ocelligera from Italy by Cristian Magnani. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17678

Factsheet

Doris ocelligera

Related messages

  1. Another UK sighting of Doris ocelligera
    From: David Kipling, August 21, 2009
  2. Second? record of Doris ocelligera from the UK
    From: Julia Nunn, August 21, 2009
  3. First sighting of Doris ocelligera in the UK
    From: David Kipling, August 21, 2009
  4. Doris ocelligera from Arcachon bassin, France
    From: Michel Barrabés, October 29, 2008
  5. Dorid from Tunisia
    From: J. Ben Souissi and A. Eters, July 29, 2003

Show factsheet and all related messages