Diversidoris sulphurea

Diversidoris sulphurea is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae.[2][3]

Diversidoris sulphurea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Nudibranchia
Suborder: Doridina
Superfamily: Doridoidea
Family: Chromodorididae
Genus: Diversidoris
Species:
D. sulphurea
Binomial name
Diversidoris sulphurea
(Rudman, 1986)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Noumea sulphurea Rudman, 1986 (basionym)

Distribution

This marine species is endemic to warm temperate Australia and occurs off New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.[4][5]

Description

This species comes in two colour forms, one from subtropical eastern Australia and one from warm temperate eastern and southern Australia. In New South Wales animals the whole of the body is a uniform bright yellow with regular orange spots around the mantle edge, sometimes touching the edge but usually just submarginal.[4] Specimens from Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia differ from New South Wales animals in having regularly spaced white specks all over the mantle except for a clear band near the edge and the orange spots being more diffuse.[6][7][8][9]

Ecology

In New South Wales and Tasmania this species is always found on yellow species of the sponge genus Darwinella identical in colour to the nudibranch.[4]

References
  1. Rudman W.B. (1986) The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Noumea flava color group. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 88: 307-404. page(s): 384
  2. MolluscaBase (2018). Diversidoris sulphurea (Rudman, 1986). Accessed on 2019-01-31.
  3. Johnson R.F. & Gosliner T.M. (2012) Traditional taxonomic groupings mask evolutionary history: A molecular phylogeny and new classification of the chromodorid nudibranchs. PLoS ONE 7(4): e33479.
  4. Rudman, W.B., 2001 (March 28) Noumea sulphurea Rudman, 1986. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  5. Burn R. (2006) A checklist and bibliography of the Opisthobranchia (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Victoria and the Bass Strait area, south-eastern Australia. Museum Victoria Science Reports 10:1–42
  6. Rudman, W.B., 2001 (March 28) Noumea sulphurea Bass Strait colour form. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  7. Rudman W.B. (1990) The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: further species of Glossodoris, Thorunna and the Chromodoris aureomarginata colour group. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 100: 263-326 page(s): 303
  8. Coleman, N. 2001. 1001 Nudibranchs - Catalogue of Indo-Pacific Sea Slugs. Springwood, Queensland : Neville Coleman’s Underwater Geographic Pty Ltd 144 pp.
  9. Debelius, H. & Kuiter, R.H. (2007) Nudibranchs of the world. ConchBooks, Frankfurt, 360 pp. ISBN 978-3-939767-06-0 page(s): 205
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