Chromodoris elisabethina from South Africa

April 22, 2005
From: Riaan Marx

Hi Dr. Rudman,
I have photographed this specimen on 7-mile reef, Sodwana bay, South Africa. I see from the fact file on the species that you mention the Indian ocean is a possible location for them, well unless I have incorrectly identified this critter, we have our proof.

Locality: 7 Mile reef, Sodwana Bay, South Africa, Indian Ocean. Depth: 21 m. Length: 30-35 mm. 15 Apr 2005. Rocky Coral. Photographer: Riaan Marx

Kind regards,
Riaan

v-riaanm@microsoft.com

Marx, R., 2005 (Apr 22) Chromodoris elisabethina from South Africa. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13585

Dear Riaan,
As you'll see from earlier messages there is some confusion over some of these black-lined chromodorids. Your animal looks very like what I would call Chromodoris hamiltoni. One of the obvious colour differences is that in C. elisabethina there is a white band between the orange mantle margin and the outer black line while in C. hamiltoni there is usually not. However the situation is complicated by the possibility of another species as discussed by Bernard Picton in an earlier message [#4745]. One thing the Forum has done is complicate some of the more simplistic ideas we had in the past, based on fewer records. This may be an annoyance now when we try to neatly 'name' things, but in the longterm it will give us a much better understanding of what is going on.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Apr 22). Comment on Chromodoris elisabethina from South Africa by Riaan Marx. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13585

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