Chromodoris elisabethina

Chromodoris elisabethina is a species of very colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.[2]

Chromodoris elisabethina

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

Distribution

This species was described from Burias Island in the Philippines. It is found in the central area of the Indo-Pacific region from Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Queensland, Australia to the southern part of Japan.[3][4]

Description

Chromodoris elisabethina can reach a maximum size of 50 cm (20 in) length.[4] The body is elongate with a foot which is distinct from the upper body by a skirt like mantle partially hiding the foot. The branched gills and the rhinophores are orange to yellow and can be withdrawn into pockets under the skin in case of danger.[5]

The main background colour is bluish, the intensity of the latter varying from blue-grey to intense blue. The blue dorsal side has a median black line which may be broken in some individuals and usually some short, finer parallel lines. These longitudinal lines are also present on the foot. The longitudinal discontinuous lines are distinctive of this species and allow the observer to differentiate it from other close species like Chromodoris lochi, Chromodoris willani and Chromodoris annae.[6]

The mantle edge and the foot are bordered with white and orange to yellow lines in which the width and the colour intensity can vary greatly from a specimen to another. The blue colour of the body and the external margin is outlined by a black line.[7][8][9][10]

Chromodoris elisabethina has been demonstrated to be a species complex by a recent molecular phylogeny study.[11][12]

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. page 466.
  2. Bouchet, P. (2014). Chromodoris elisabethina Bergh, 1877. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-02-12
  3. Rudman, W.B., 1998 (November 19) Chromodoris elisabethina Bergh, 1877. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  4. Bolland, R. (1999) Chromodoris elisabethina Okinawa Slug Site.
  5. Rudman, W.B., 1999 (March 25) Rhinophore in nudibranchs. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  6. 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. page(s): 205
  7. Debelius, Helmut, 2001, Nudibranchs and Sea Snails: Indo-Pacific Field Guide, IKAN - Unterwasserarchiv, Frankfurt, Germany.
  8. P.L. Beesley, G.J.B. Ross, A. Wells, 1998. Mollusca - The southern synthesis, vol.5, CSIRO, ISBN 0-643-05756-0
  9. Behrens, D., 2012. Nudibranch Behaviour. New World Publications Inc., ISBN 1-878348-41-8
  10. Gary Cobb & Richard Willan, 2006. Undersea jewels - a colour guide to nudibranchs, Australian Biological Resources Study, ISBN 0642568472
  11. Gosliner, T.M., Behrens, D.W. & Valdés, Á., 2018. Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification - Indo-Pacific. New World Publications; 2nd Revised, Updated edition. 452 pp. ISBN 1878348671, ISBN 978-1878348678, p. 134
  12. Layton, K. K.; Gosliner, T. M.; Wilson, N. G. (2018). Flexible colour patterns obscure identification and mimicry in Indo-Pacific Chromodoris nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Chromodorididae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 124: 27-36.
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