Re: Chromodoris luteorosea from Spain

January 28, 2001
From: Angel Valdes


Dear Bill,

The photos sent by Alma actually belong to two different species. The upper photo is in fact Chromodoris luteorosea (von Rapp, 1827), which has dendritic mantle glands, uniformly dark reddish brown rhinophores and dark reddish brown branchial leaves with some white pigment. The most characteristic feature of this species is the presence of perfectly oval or circular yellow spots on the dorsum, irregularly arranged. These spots are always surrounded by a white area. I enclosed another photo of this species [UPPER PHOTO] taken by Diego Moreno in the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Chromodoris luteorosea is common in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal.

Alma's lower photo represents a specimen of Chromodoris luteopunctata (Gantès, 1962), a very similar species originally described from
Morocco. This species is only found in the Gibraltar Straits area, North Africa and Canary Islands and it also has dendritic mantle glands. It is distinguishable from C. luteorosea in several regards.
The branchial leaves of C. luteopunctata are lighter and have numerous white spots. The rhinophores have a number of white and blue spots that are absent in C. luteorosea. The dorsal pattern of C. luteopunctata is formed by small, irregular yellow spots in the center of the dorsum, and larger spots on the mantle margin. These spots are also surrounded by a white area, but they are always irregular in shape. See the enclosed picture [LOWER PHOTO] of a specimen collected by Terry Gosliner in Trafalgar, southern Spain, for comparison.

There are several consistent anatomical differences between these two species and I think all opisthobranch specialists in the area agree in considering them as distinct. I would be curious to know if Lucas agrees with my identifications.

All the best,
Angel

avaldes@CalAcademy.org

Valdes, A., 2001 (Jan 28) Re: Chromodoris luteorosea from Spain. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3653

Thanks Angel,
It would be interesting to know if there were any 'biological' differences between the two species. Perhaps they feed on different sponges, perhaps they have differently coloured or shaped egg masses or development type? Despite my exerience with very similarly coloured species in the Indo -West Pacific I am still very surprised that these are considered distinct species by specialists of that fauna.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Jan 28). Comment on Re: Chromodoris luteorosea from Spain by Angel Valdes. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3653

Factsheet

Chromodoris luteorosea

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