Monday, May 01, 2006

Spotty slugs

Some more nudibranchs. This rather spectacular specimen is, I think Chromidoris leopardus. This is one of a number of similar Chromidoris sp. which together with the beautiful Risbecia tryoni form a colour group that can be very difficult to distinguish. The wide pruple fringe and rosettes are what suggest this is most likely C. leopardus.


I'm much more confident in the identification of these two chaps however. This is definitely the Risbecia and I can say that with such confidence because in addition to looking like R. tryoni they are showing its classic "trailing behaviour"


Interestingly the animal behind is the darker colour form whereas the one in front is much lighter in addition to being the larger. Both these animals will possess both sex organs and when they mate they will fertilise each other and then split up to lay their egg spiral.

3 comments:

Pam in Tucson said...

I'm running out of superlatives to comment on your blog. The underwater world is a completely new world to me and I find the information fascinating and the photos spectacular. I'll never scuba, but I can glide through the water and observe vicariously through your posts.

Endment said...

I am with pam --- need more superlatives :)
wonderful color
I really appreciate the identification information.

tai haku said...

I'm glad you are enjoying the slugs and things - without seeing them in their wider environment its hard to describe the kick we get out of them - its like finding a diamond in a pile of rocks at times......then we get the fun of trying to work out which species they are (which can be tricky).