Platydoris scabra
(Cuvier, 1804)
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Dorididae
DISTRIBUTION
Tropical Indo-West Pacific
PHOTO
UPPER RIGHT: Mazzazini, Zanzibar, Tanzania, July 1971. Colour form with yellow edging to mantle, foot, and gill & rhinophore pockets.
LOWER: Ilot Rat (=I. de la Table), near Koumac, New Caledonia, 20°33.7'S, 164°11'E, intertidal, mixed substrate, 12 October 1993, 98mm long alive. Specimen with no yellow mantle edge but traces of yellow on gill & rhinophore pockets and foot.
The mantle is white with subtle patching of grey or brown formed from the aggregation of brown spots. In some specimens the edge of the mantle, foot, rhinophore pockets and gill pockets are yellow, but in many specimens they are not. Both its relative commonness and wide Indo-West Pacific distribution has led to many names being given to living and preserved specimens. This species, with P. striata, P. formosa and P. cruenta form a group of very similar species, two of which have brown spots and two have brown lines. In each pair, one species has red spots and the other does not. The brown spotted pair are P. scabra (without) and P. formosa (with red patches) while the lined pair are P. striata (without) and P. cruenta (with red patches). Mantle stiff and rigid. Grows to at least 10cm long.
Reference:
• Cuvier, G.L. (1804). Mémoire sur le genre Doris. Annales du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 4:447-473.
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (September 11) Platydoris scabra (Cuvier, 1804). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/platscab
Related messages
A Giant from PhiPhi, Thailand
October 18, 2001
From: Walabha Sinbul
Dear Bill,
Attached please find a picture of a very large seaslug we've found during our dive at PhiPhi Island, Krabi, Thailand on September 22nd 2001. This creature was found crawling on a rock at the depth of 14 m. The bottom composition was a mixture of rocks and hard coral. It was about a size of a compact disc (or even bigger) and was very flat. We all marvelled at its size and its speed of moving. We'd like you to help us with the ID as usual. Thank you very much Bill.
Regards,
Walabha
walabha@hotmail.com
Sinbul, W., 2001 (Oct 18) A Giant from PhiPhi, Thailand. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5413Dear Walabha,
This is Platydoris scabra. It grows to at least 10cm in length, so it is bigger than many nudibranchs, but no where as big as some of the giants like Hexabranchus sanguneus.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Platydoris scabra? from the Seychelles
June 13, 2001
From: Erwin Köhler
Dear Bill,
This one was made by Frank Gloystein (Frank.Gloystein@t-online.de) at Fregate Island, the Seychelles, on March 10, 2001, length about 6 cm, depth about 7 m.
Erwin
Erwin@medslugs.de
Köhler, E., 2001 (Jun 13) Platydoris scabra? from the Seychelles. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4562Dear Erwin,
This looks like Platydoris scabra but I can notice quite a pink tinge on parts of the mantle which make me wonder whether it is a very pale form of the red-patched Platydoris formosa.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Platydoris species from Indo-West Pacific
September 12, 2000
From: Bill Rudman
To answer Don Barclay's message I have prepared pages on
•Platydoris cruenta
•Platydoris formosa
•Platydoris scabra.
If anyone has a photo of Platydoris striata I could use to complete the comparison of this group of similarly coloured species I would be grateful.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
