Nembrotha chamberlaini from Malaysia?

December 7, 2009
From: Mirjam Broos


Hello Bill,

I really thought we found Nembrotha chamberlaini near Siamil Island, Malaysia (the colour of the gills extends on to the dorsum) but I read on the forum that N. chamberlaini only exists in Indonesia and the Philippines. So is this N. rutilans after all?

Locality: Siamil Island (near Kapalai), Froggy layer, Sabah, Malaysia, 27 september 2009. Photographer: Geert Prast.

best regard,
Mirjam


mirjam.broos@planet.nl

Broos, M., 2009 (Dec 7) Nembrotha chamberlaini from Malaysia?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22877

Dear Mirjam,

One of the exciting things about scientific discovery is that the written 'facts' are only as good as the last observation. At present this species has only been recorded from Indonesia and the Philippines but as you have found a specimen of N. chamberlaini in Malaysia then we will have to change the books. Most new scientific information expands like this by small steps, but as we have seen quite often on the Forum, our knowledge of geographic distribution of species can sometimes expand across an ocean in just one step.

One problem which is still unresolved though is just how many species there are in this colour group of Nembrotha species. Yours certainly fits the 'typical' colour form, but as to how much colour variation should be included in the species is still a puzzle. Photos such as yours can be very valuable in determining just how variable a colour pattern can be.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Dec 7). Comment on Nembrotha chamberlaini from Malaysia? by Mirjam Broos. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22877

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