Dendrodoris denisoni from New Zealand

December 13, 1998
From: Ross Armstrong

Bill,
Here is a photo of Dendrodoris gemmacea from the Poor Knights Islands in northeastern New Zealand. Photo: Diane Armstrong.

Ross Armstrong

ross@northpower.co.nz

Armstrong, R., 1998 (Dec 13) Dendrodoris denisoni from New Zealand. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/386

Dear Ross,
Thanks for the picture. I am pretty sure that the the New Zealand species is the same as the tropical Indo-West Pacific species and so its name should be Dendrodoris denisoni rather than Dendrodoris gemmacea. An interesting situation would arise if the New Zealand species does prove to be distinct. If so, the name Dendrodoris gemmacea would be incorrect because it was given to a species from India, which is almost certainly the tropical Indo-West Pacific species, and certainly not the New Zealand one. Probably the earliest name for the New Zealand one is Doridopsis mammosa Abraham, 1877. But that could also be debatable because it was given to a decolourised specimen in the British Museum by Abraham, who felt it was his "duty" to name all the unlabelled decolourised specimens in the British Museum. To overcome the almost impossible task of actually identifying them with living material, he named them all as new species, so leaving us a legacy of problems which are still unresolved!
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 1998 (Dec 13). Comment on Dendrodoris denisoni from New Zealand by Ross Armstrong. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/386

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