Chelidonura sp. 7

Order: CEPHALASPIDEA
Superfamily: PHILINOIDEA
Family: Aglajidae

PHOTO

Eilat, Lighthouse Beach. Depth: 9 m. Israel, Red Sea (Gulf of Eilat). Length: 18 mm. 08 April 2005. sand and occasional corals. Photographer: Binyamin and Shulamit Koretz.

This differs from C. sandrana in shape, and from C. punctata which has very long 'tails'.

There are many problematical yellow-spotted species of Chelidonura which still need to be sorted out. One I have not mentioned before is Chelidonura castanea Yonow 1994, which was described from the Maldives as brownish with yellow spots and with white edging to the parapodia and the head shield. It is possiblya synonym of C. punctata, but Yonow specifically says the background is not black..

Chelidonura tsurugensis has 2 white marks on the head but it differs in having no yellow spots ventrally. Other possiblilties are Chelidonura sp. 2, but as I discuss under Chelidonura sp. 6 we still need to know a lot more about colour variation within individual species.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2005 (April 18) Chelidonura sp. 7 [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/chelsp7

Related messages


Re: Chelidonura from the Red Sea

August 14, 2008
From: Sylvain Le Bris

Concerning message #13504:

Dear Bill,

Do you think it is Chelidonura sp 7. I found it in shallow water, on the top of the reef.

Locality: Marsa Nakari, 1 m, Egypt, Red Sea, 17 July 2008. Length: 1.5 cm. Photographer: Sylvain Le Bris

Regards,
Sylvain Le Bris

lebris.sylvain@gmail.com

Le Bris, S., 2008 (Aug 14) Re: Chelidonura from the Red Sea. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21795

Dear Sylvain,

If Chelidonura sp. 7 is different from C. punctata then I agree that this is probably Chelidonura sp. 7. The most obvious difference is that C. punctata has much longer and unequal posterior 'tails'. Your animal is a bit of an intermediate with longer and more unequal 'tails' than we have seen in other photos of Chelidonura sp. 7.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2008 (Aug 14). Comment on Re: Chelidonura from the Red Sea by Sylvain Le Bris. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21795

Chelidonura cf punctata from Red Sea

May 18, 2005
From: Oren Lederman

Hi Bill,

Me and my dive buddy spotted 4 more of these on a single dive [see message #13504 ]. Interesting since they are uncommon around here. I think that the last photo shows two nudis. That's all for this batch of photos. I got a bunch of photos from the second day of diving as well.

Locality:  Dives village. Israel. Red Sea. Depth: ~25-18 meters. Length: ~1 cm. 12 May 2005. Photographer: Oren Lederman

Oren Lederman

lederman@bigmail.co.il

Lederman, O., 2005 (May 18) Chelidonura cf punctata from Red Sea. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13796

Dear Oren,
I am still quite puzzled by this animal. Do you think you could try and turn one over and get a photo of its underside? It would be good to know if there were yellow spots there as well as on the top.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (May 18). Comment on Chelidonura cf punctata from Red Sea by Oren Lederman. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13796

Chelidonura from the Red Sea

April 19, 2005
From: Binyamin Koretz

Hi Bill,

Is this Chelidonura sandrana, or perhaps Chelidonura punctata?

Locality: Eilat, Lighthouse Beach. Depth: 9 m. Israel, Red Sea (Gulf of Eilat). Length: 18 mm. 08 April 2005. sand and occasional corals. Photographer: Binyamin and Shulamit Koretz.

Thanks and regards
Binyamin

binyamin@koretz.net

Koretz, B., 2005 (Apr 19) Chelidonura from the Red Sea. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13504

Dear Binyamin,
I don't think this is either of the species you mention. C. sandrana has a very characteristic shape, and C. punctata has very long 'tails'.

There are many problematical yellow-spotted species of Chelidonura which still need to be sorted out. One I have not mentioned before is Chelidonura castanea Yonow 1994, which was described from the Maldives as brownish with yellow spots and with white edging to the parapodia and the head shield. It is possibly a synonym of C. punctata, but Yonow specifically says the background is not black..

Chelidonura tsurugensis has 2 white marks on the head but it differs in having no yellow spots ventrally. Other possiblilties are Chelidonura sp. 2, but as I discuss under Chelidonura sp. 6 we still need to know a lot more about colour variation within individual species. So at the moment I will call it Chelidonura sp. 7

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Apr 19). Comment on Chelidonura from the Red Sea by Binyamin Koretz. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13504