Janolus sp 10
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: ARMININA
Family: Zephyrinidae
DISTRIBUTION
Known only from NE Pacific
PHOTO
Four Mile Shoal, Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada. November 2006. Photo: Kaia P. Turner
This unnamed Janolus is remarkably similar in shape and colour to Dirona pellucida. One obvious difference is that Janolus has a single digestive gland duct running through each ceras to the tip. In Dirona there is no such duct.
It is shown as Janolus sp. 2 in Behrens and Hermosillo (2005) Eastern Pacific Nudibranchs, #227 on page 103.
Authorship detailsRudman, W.B., 2007 (May 10) Janolus sp 10 [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/janosp10
Related messages
Re: Janolus from British Columbia
March 27, 2008
From: J. Hildering & G. Miller
Concerning message #19900:
It is with great excitement that I report finding this species [Janolus sp. 10 ] on Northwest Vancouver Island near the community of Winter Harbour - a very long way from Sechelt and Nelson Island where I know there to have been previous sightings.
Locality: Winter Harbour, 47', British Columbia, Pacific Ocean, 15 March 2008, Muddy. Length: 8 cm. Photographer: Jackie Hildering.
Jackie Hildering & Glen Miller
earthlingenterprises@telus.net
Hildering, J. & Miller, G., 2008 (Mar 27) Re: Janolus from British Columbia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21453
Dear Jackie and Glen,
I agree, this is a pretty neat find. I can just make out the branching of the gut in the "cerata", separating it from a Dirona albolineata. This only leaves, as you have suggested, our Janolus sp. 10 on The Forum, and Janolus sp. 2 in Behrens and Hermosillo. I would be neat if you could determine what this rare species is feeding on.
Thanks for sharing this,
Dave Behrens
Re: Janolus from British Columbia
May 11, 2007
From: Ron Velarde
Concerning message #19896:
Hi Kaia/ Bill,
The new Janolus species is shown as Janolus sp. 2 in Behrens and Hermosillo (2005) Eastern Pacific Nudibranchs, #227 on page 103.
Great find!
Ron Velarde
rvelarde@sandiego.gov
Velarde, R., 2007 (May 11) Re: Janolus from British Columbia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19900Janolus from British Columbia
May 11, 2007
From: Kaia P. Turner
Hi Bill,
While diving on Four Mile Shoal in Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada in November 2006, I took a picture of a very cute little creature that I was unable to identify at the time. It was at a depth of between 45 and 50 feet. I cannot be sure of the exact size of the creature, but it was quite small - less than an inch.
This week I attempted to find it again, and ended up finding two nudibranchs that appeared similar - the Golden Dirona (Dirona pellucida) and the Janolus fuscus. I also came across a post from 2000 by Marli Wakeling [#2500] about Dirona aurantia (now classified as Dirona pellucida) on the Sea Slug Forum where she wrote:
"There is another nudibranch that mimics this one, but it is new and undescribed; in fact it is a Janolus sp. One can tell the difference from the liver coloured digestive tract ... otherwise identical."
That sounded like the nudibranch in my image, and I contacted Marli to see if she could give me a positive identification. She believed it was the Janolus sp. she had referred to in her post, and she forwarded the photo to Dave Behrens for a second opinion.
Kind regards,
Kaia
Seattle, WA, USA
kaiapturner@gmail.com
Turner, K.P., 2007 (May 11) Janolus from British Columbia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19896Dear Kaia,
This is an interesting find. I was going to say the digestive gland ducts in the cerata are about the only thing you can see in your photo which differs from Dirona pellucida, but Marli's already said it.
I look forward to comments from the local experts
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
