Okenia purpurata from Singapore

April 2, 2009
From: Toh Chay Hoon

Concerning message #19252:

Dear Dr Bill,

We came across this nudibranch while diving at Pulau Hantu, Singapore.

The nearest ID that I could find on the forum is Okenia purpurata but with a distribution known only from northern New South Wales, eastern Australia.

Locality: Pulau Hantu, 14 m, Singapore, South China Sea, 29 March 2009, Sandy substrate. Length: 10 mm. Photographer: Toh Chay Hoon.

Please kindly advise.
Thanks,
Chay Hoon

sonnenflower@gmail.com

Toh, C.H., 2009 (Apr 2) Okenia purpurata from Singapore. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22383

Dear Chay Hoon,
This is an interesring discovery. With the proviso that we know nothing of the anatomy of your animal, it is identical in external shape and colour to Okenia purpurata and is almost certainly that species. New South Wales, on the east coast of Australia, has a marine fauna which is an interesting mixture of tropical Indo-West Pacific species, endemic eastern Australian species and southern Australian species. So when we find a 'new' species in New South Wales it is difficult to know just which part of the fauna it belongs to. That's why on the Fact Sheet I have written 'Known only from northern New South Wales, eastern Australia' rather than endemic to New South Wales.

Now, thanks to your find, I will be able to change that to suggest that it probably has a wide Indo-West Pacific distribution. One complicating factor is that it is possible that this species, like some other species of Okenia, is a 'tramp' species travelling the world on the bottom of boats in association with its food bryozoan. I guess we will just have to wait and see where we next get a sighting

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Apr 2). Comment on Okenia purpurata from Singapore by Toh Chay Hoon. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22383

Factsheet

Okenia purpurata

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