Is this Chromodoris petechialis?

May 31, 2001
From: Bob Owens

We got the copy of the message asking for possible sightings of the nudibranch C. petechialis. I have photos of a nudibranch from Midway Island which looks astonishingly like the photos on the website. The entire animal looks exactly like the one illustrated except for the entire center of the back which has a lace-like pattern of interlocking red lines, much like a gold-laced nudibranch. Towards the edges are seen the same irregular red spots, the border of yellow, the orange rhinophores, the gills are the same as those in the photo. Could this animal have interbred with another species? I have not been able to identify the species I have.

The animal was found in September 1999 in shallow water and was approx 1.5-2 inches [4-5cm] long.
Bob

bob-tinaowens@hawaii.rr.com

Owens, B., 2001 (May 31) Is this Chromodoris petechialis?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4334

Dear Bob,
Your animal is one of the colour forms of Chromodoris tinctoria. If you have a look at the other messages on this page you will see that ths species has a widespread distribution throughout the tropical Indian and Western Pacific oceans and is quite variable in colour. While the colour pattern of C. petechialis is quite similar to that of this form of C. tinctoria we know nothing of the anatomy of so it impossible to say whether the colour similarity is the result of a common ancestry or the result of mimicry.

I can't offer a reward for the first person to find C. petechialis again but I can promise to jump their message and photo immediately to the top of the queue on the day it arrives.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (May 31). Comment on Is this Chromodoris petechialis? by Bob Owens. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4334

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