Chromodoris regalis
(Ortea, Caballer & Moro, 2001)
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Chromodorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Caribbean
PHOTO
Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, Caribbean Sea. Approx depth of 10 meters, 25 mm in length. 02 January 2004. Photo: Ellen Muller.
Translucent with a pinkish tinge to the body and mantle. There is also a fine network of reddish lines all over the mantle. The mantle is also covered in small rounded white bumps, which are more numerous in some specimens than in others suggesting they are perhaps small skin glands. In the attached photo these glands can only be seen near the mantle edge where they merge into the band of mantle glands at the mantle edge. There is a thin milky-yellow band bordering the mantle and another around the foot.
The rhinophores are translucent pinkish with a thin reddish edge to the lamellae. The essentially simple gills are translucent pinkish with the inner and outer edge (rachis) edged in red. In some cases a few gills may be thick enough to have a double red line along the inside edge. It is reported to grow to 34 mm length.
It was originally placed in the genus Noumea, but as Valdes, Hamann, Behrens & DuPont (2006) suggest, its anatomy is more like that of a species of Chromodoris.
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Ortea, J., Caballer, M., and Moro, L. (2001) A new species of the genus Noumea Risbec, 1928 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) of the Caribbean reef of Costa Rica, described to commemorate the fifth Century of its discovery (in Spanish). Avicennia 14: 1-6.
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Valdes, A., Hamann, J., Behrens D.W. & A. DuPont (2006) Caribbean Sea Slugs
Rudman, W.B., 2007 (June 27) Chromodoris regalis (Ortea, Caballer & Moro, 2001). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/chrorega
Related messages
Chromodoris regalis from Netherlands Antilles, Caribbean Sea
July 3, 2007
From: Ellen Muller
Hi Bill,
I noticed that you don't have any photos of Chromodoris regalis on your site. I am attaching several photos that I took a few years ago (02 January 2004). The photos were taken on the island of Bonaire (where I live), Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. This specimen was found at a depth of approximately 10 meters and was over 25 mm in length. I have found others at depths ranging from 5-10 meters and ranging in size from 25 mm to 34 mm. Most were found on patch reefs.
Best regards,
Ellen Muller
ellen@imaginebonaire.com
Dear Ellen,
Thanks very much for this addition. Species not already on the Forum are always welcome, and as you are probably aware, so are photos of any species showing colour variation or 'doing things' such as laying eggs, feeding, mating etc.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
