Chromodoris annae

Chromodoris annae is a species of sea slug, a very colourful nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.[2]

Chromodoris annae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Nudibranchia
Suborder: Doridina
Superfamily: Doridoidea
Family: Chromodorididae
Genus: Chromodoris
Species:
C. annae
Binomial name
Chromodoris annae
Bergh, 1877[1]

Distribution

This species of nudibranch is found in the central area of the Indo-Pacific region from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines to the Marshall Islands.[3]

Description

Chromodoris annae can reach a maximum size of 5 cm length.[4] The body is elongate with a foot which is distinct from the upper body by a skirt like mantle hiding partially the foot. The branched gills and the rhinophores are orange to yellow. The main background color is bluish, the intensity of the latter varying from blue-grey to intense blue, slightly speckled by tiny black spots. The blue dorsal side and the foot are bordered with a black line which can be discontinuous depending on the specimen. A black dash between the rhinophores distinguishes this species from similar species like Chromodoris elisabethina and Chromodoris westraliensis. The mantle edge and the foot are bordered with white and orange to yellow lines in which the width and the color intensity can vary greatly from a specimen to another.[3][5][6][7][8][9]

Ecology

This nudibranch feeds on the sponge Petrosaspongia sp.[10][11]

  • Chromodoris annae.
  • Chromodoris annae in the Philippines.
  • Chromodoris annae in Bunaken, Sulawesi

References
  1. Bergh L.S.R. (1877). Malacologische Untersuchungen. In: Reisen im Archipel der Philippinen von Dr. Carl Gottfried Semper. Zweiter Theil. Wissenschaftliche Resultate. Band 2, Theil 2, Heft 11, pp. 429-494, pls. 54-57.
  2. Caballer, M. (2015). Chromodoris annae Bergh, 1877. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-12-05
  3. Rudman, W.B., 1998 (November 19) Chromodoris annae Bergh, 1877. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  4. Christian Robilliart (2010) Chromodoris annae Sous les Mers.
  5. Rudman W.B. (1982) The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Chromodoris quadricolor, C. lineolata and Hypselodoris nigrolineata colour groups. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 76: 183-241.
  6. Debelius, Helmut, 2001, Nudibranchs and Sea Snails: Indo-Pacific Field Guide, IKAN - Unterwasserarchiv, Frankfurt, Germany.
  7. P.L.Beesley, G.J.B. Ross, A.Wells, Mollusca-The southern synthesis, vol.5, CSIRO, 1998, ISBN 0-643-05756-0
  8. David Behrens, Nudibranch behaviour, Newworld Publication INC., 2005, ISBN 978-1878348418
  9. Gary Cobb & Richard Willan, Undersea jewels- a colour guide to nudibranchs, Australian Biological Resources Study, 2006, ISBN 0642568472
  10. Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Jan 29). Comment on Chromodoris annae on sponge by Roberto Sozzani. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  11. Rudman, W. B. & Bergquist, P. R. (2007) A review of feeding specificity in the sponge-feeding Chromodorididae (Nudibranchia: Mollusca). Molluscan Research, 27(2): 60-88
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