Doriopsilla pelseneeri
d'Oliveira, 1895

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Dendrodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

Known from north Atlantic coast of Portugal & Spain, Mediterranean coast of Spain & France. Reported here from Atlantic coast of France for first time.

PHOTO

Dive site: "le mur", Hendaye, south west France. 2cm long, Depth: 12m, 03/07/00. Photos: Jean-Pierre Bielecki.

The background colour varies with size. Small animals are uniformly white, medium sized ones yellow or orange and largest ones red. There is always a white ring around the gill pocket. Dorsum covered with large irregularly shaped spiculate tubercles. The gills and thinophores are translucent, with a similar colour to that of the mantle. The sympatric Doriopsilla areolata differs in usually having a reticulate white pattern on the mantle, and never has a white ring edging the gill pocket. Also in D. pelseneeri the dorsal tubercles are large and irregular, not low and rounded as in D. areolata, and the oral tentacles are quite different. In D. pelseneeri the oral tentacles are separate, grooved and covered by the anterior edge of the foot, while in D. areolata they are fused, ungrooved and not covered by the foot.

Reference:
• Valdes, A., & J. Ortea (1997) Review of the genus Doriopsilla Bergh, 1880 (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) in the Atlantic Ocean. The Veliger, 40(3): 240-254.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2001 (March 18) Doriopsilla pelseneeri d'Oliveira, 1895. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/doripels

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