Tambja affinis from Ningaloo Reef, W. Australia

December 7, 2006
From: Kristin Anderson

Concerning message #14810:

I came across this small guy while peering into a hole. He was moving swiftly and unfortunately this is the only angle the environment allowed. Is he Tambja affinis?

Locality: Ningaloo Reef, 12m, Western Australia, Indian Ocean, 19 October 2006, limestone & hard coral reef. Length: 1.5cms. Photographer: Kristin Anderson.

Kristin Anderson

kristin@OceansByAnderson.com

Anderson, K.J., 2006 (Dec 7) Tambja affinis from Ningaloo Reef, W. Australia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/18871

Dear Kristin,
My first thought when seeing this was that it was the new species Tambja victoriae, but on checking the photos from the western Indian Ocean of T. affinis, it certainly looks like as though your species is indeed identical to some I have identified as Tambja affinis.  This certainly raises the possibility that T. victoriae is not a good species. When it was described we knew very little about the much older T affinis, but thanks to contributions to the Forum we now have a much better idea of its colour variability. The only real difference I could distinguish before was that in T. affinis the whole of the rhinophore sheath seemed to be coloured while in T. victoriae there was a narrower band right at the edge [see Tambja affinis colour group Fact Sheet] but animals from the Philippines [message #14703] and South Africa [message #14810 ] would appear to be intermediates.

It would be interesting to hear the views of others.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Dec 7). Comment on Tambja affinis from Ningaloo Reef, W. Australia by Kristin Anderson. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/18871

Factsheet

Tambja affinis

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