Thorunna halourga
Johnson & Gosliner, 2001

DISTRIBUTION

Tropical western Pacific - sthn Japan, Philippines, Marshall Ids, Papua New Guinea, eastern Australia

PHOTO

Anilao, Luzon Island, Philippines, April, 2002. Approx 7mm long. Photo: Jeff Rosenfeld.

This is another small species in the Noumea purpurea colour group growing to about 12 mm long. The mantle is a pale lilac becoming purple in front of the rhinophores and behind the gills. The mantle margin, which is slightly undulate, has a broad white band. The rhinophores have a purple stalk and the lamellae are edged with orange. The gills are white with orange axes. Because of its similarity in colour to other species it is difficult to be sure of identifying records from colour photos alone, but it appears to have been found in Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and tropical eastern Australia.

References:
• Johnson, R.F. & Gosliner, T.M. 2001. Two new species of Thorunna Bergh 1878 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia: Chromodorididae) from the Indo-Pacific. Bollettino Malacologico ,37(5-8): 143-150.
• Marshall, J.G. & Willan, R.C. 1999. Nudibranchs of Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef: a survey of the Opisthobranchia (Sea Slugs) of Heron and Wistari Reefs. Leiden, Backhuys Publishers. [as Thorunna sp. 1]

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2002 (December 11) Thorunna halourga Johnson & Gosliner, 2001. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/thorhalo

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  3. Re: On the Noumea purpurea Colour Group
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  5. Thorunna halourga from Japan.
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  6. Thorunna halourga from Philippines
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  7. Re: Thorunna halourga from Philippines
    From: Scott Johnson, January 20, 2003
  8. Thorunna from Heron Island
    From: Julie Marshall, July 12, 2001
  9. Re: Thorunna? cf. speciosus
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  10. Hypselodoris bullocki or Noumea sp.?
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  11. Thorunna cf. speciosus
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  12. Thorunna cf speciosus? from Japan
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