Cuthona sp. 8

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Tergipedidae

PHOTO

Otsuki-cyo Issai (the Pacific coasts of Japan), 5 m, Kochi Prefecture Japan, Pacific Ocean, 17 August 2005, rock. Length: 5 mm or less. Photographer: Nao.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2006 (March 5) Cuthona sp. 8 [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/cuthsp8

Related messages


Re: Cuthona? from Japan

March 8, 2006
From: Denis Riek

Concerning message #15986:

Dear Bill,
Here are some shots of what looks very similar to Sayoko Matsuda's Cuthona sp. It was found in the Brunswick River in May 2005. Gary Cobb's site shows also shows this animal from Alexander Headland, Queensland, found intertidally.

Locality: Brunswick River., 2 metres, Northern New South Wales,Australia, Pacific, 01 May 2005, Under rock on rock wall, high tide. Length: 6 mm. Photographer: Denis Riek.

Regards
Denis

dwriek@optusnet.com.au

Riek, D.W., 2006 (Mar 8) Re: Cuthona? from Japan. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16057

Dear Denis,
It certainly does look the same. I think I have said before that these small cuthonids pose a particular problem with identficiation, because many of them seem to take advantage of shipping to travel the world. I suspect there are a few examples of the same species being described as a different species in different parts of the world. One problem is that often spcies are named on the basis if a very specimens so we dont have a good idea of variation within a single population. Cuthona sp. 8 is a god example. is it a widespread Indo-West Pacific species, was it originally a NW Pacific species, was it an Australian species? or perhaps its an Atlantic species originally?

I guess at this stage we will need to have a look at all the published descriptions and see if we can find something that fits.
Very interesting,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Mar 8). Comment on Re: Cuthona? from Japan by Denis Riek. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16057

Cuthona? from Japan

March 7, 2006
From: Sayoko Matsuda

Dear Dr. Bill,
Hello. I write to you for the first time. I do work of a diving guide Otsuki-cyou Issai Kochi Prefecture Japan. I send a photograph of the sea slug which I found in the summer of last year. It was on an old net on a rock.
This sea slug resembled an unidentified kind on the Forum [Message #15636 ].

Locality: Otsuki-cyo Issai (the Pacific coasts of Japan), 5 m, Kochi Prefecture Japan, Pacific Ocean, 17 August 2005, rock. Length: 5 mm or less. Photographer: Nao.

What do you think? I hope these photographs help your study.
Please forgive mistakes in my English.
Yours sincerely,
Sayoko Matsuda

kochi-ks@mx32.tiki.ne.jp

Sayoko Matsuda, 2006 (Mar 7) Cuthona? from Japan. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15986

Dear Sayo,
This is truly a beautiful Cuthona and I agree it looks like the photo in message #15636.  I think we should call this Cuthona sp. 8, until we can find a name for it.  I cannot find anything vaguely like it.  The color is certainly striking.

Interestingly, your animal looks remarkably similar to an  Cuthona sp. 9 collected in Bahia Banderas, Mexico, by Alicia Hermosillo [Species #307; Behrens & Hermosillo, 2005].  The cerata are very close but the head color is white in the Mexican specimen.

Please write to us often, and incidentally, your English is better that many of my friends.  No apology necessity.

  • Behrens, D.W. & A. Hermosillo.  2005.  Eastern Pacific Nudibranchs - A guide to the opisthobranchs from Alaska to Central America.  Sea Challengers.   137 pp.

Best wishes,
Dave Behrens

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Mar 7). Comment on Cuthona? from Japan by Sayoko Matsuda. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15986

Aeolid from northern Mariana Islands

February 25, 2006
From: Yukari Tani


Dear Bill,
Could you identify these please? We think its possible to be the almost same species as the one from Jervis Bay in message  #14670  but, we can see only color and shape of rhinophore

 Locality: Eelgrass Beds, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. Pacific Ocean. Depth: 1.5 m. Length: 2 mm. 4 January 2006. On the rock. Photographer: Yukari Tani

Best regards,
Gon

dswith@isletwind.com

Yukari Tani, 2006 (Feb 25) Aeolid from northern Mariana Islands. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15636

Dear Gon,
Like the animals from Jervis Bay you refer to, this is most probably a species of Cuthona. Quite a lot of them have a reddish orange band on the rhinophores. Identifying them is quite difficult unless they are one of the species which has a very distinctive colour pattern based on skin pigment. Many have a colour pattern which to a large extent is based on the colour of the digestive gland - and thus their food. Many have also been described on the basis of very few specimens so we have no idea of their colour varaibility. This is especially true of Indo-West Pacific species. At this stage it is difficult to know just how wide spread some of the described species are.

If anyone is willing to give us their opinion it will be very welcome. It is possible there is a description out there which fits this colour pattern precisely, but it is a bit like a lottery. So I am afraid at present I am going to have to leave this in an unidentified list.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Feb 25). Comment on Aeolid from northern Mariana Islands by Yukari Tani. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15636