Chromodoris aspersa (A. A. Gould, 1852)
- Location
- Horse Shoes, Okinawa Island (Onna and Yomitan area), Okinawa, Japan
- Date
- 2015/12/21
- Length
- 12mm
- Depth
- 3.0m
- Water temperature
- 23.0℃
Description
A small chromodorid reaching 1.5 inches (ca. 3.8 cm) in length and 0.5 inches (ca. 1.3 cm) in breadth. The body is small, depressed, elongate-oval, a little the widest in front, pearl-coloured, becoming pale yellow towards the edge, and margined with pale orange. The whole upper surface is densely sprinkled with crimson (Latin puniceus) spots. The labial tentacles are subulate; the cervical tentacles are broad lanceolate, with numerous lamellae standing on a slender pedicle. The branchial star is small, about one-third the width of the back; plumules eight, lanceolate, simply pinnate; pinnae about twelve on each side, with a terminal one finely fringed. The tentacles and gills are rusty-yellow. The foot is somewhat longer than the body. The described specimen was probably a juvenile. Specimens with a greyish-yellow ground colour, or lacking the fine yellow submarginal line, are occasionally observed.Distribution
Type locality: Vincennes Island, Paumotu Group (now Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia). Based on a specimen collected by the U.S. Exploring Expedition. The species has subsequently been recorded across the Indo-West Pacific, including East Africa, Aldabra Atoll, the Seychelles, Réunion, Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands, Japan, and Hawaii.Etymology
The specific epithet aspersa is the Latin perfect participle of aspergere ("to sprinkle, scatter"), meaning "sprinkled, besprinkled", in reference to the densely scattered crimson spots on the pearl-coloured ground.Remarks
In the original description Gould placed the species in Doris. The species was later transferred to Chromodoris (the parentheses in the author citation reflect this generic transfer). "ゴマフリイロウミウシ" is a synonym.References
- Doris aspersa n. sp., Gould A.A. (1852). Mollusca and Shells. United States Exploring Expedition during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, under the command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. Vol. 12. Boston: Gould & Lincoln. xv + 510 pp.
- Glossodoris inornata Pease (= Chromodoris aspersa), Allan J.K. (1947). Nudibranchia from the Clarence River Heads, north coast, New South Wales. Records of the Australian Museum, 21(8): 433-463, pls. xli-xliii and map. https://doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.21.1947.561
- モンコウミウシ (新称: 紋小海牛), Fukuda H., 1994. Marine Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Ogasawara Islands (Bonin) Islands. Part 2 : Neogastropoda, Heterobranchia and fossil species, with faunal accounts. Ogasawara Research 20, 1-126
- ゴマフリイロウミウシ（新称）, 奥谷喬司. (1994). サンゴ礁の生きもの. 東海大学出版会.
- ゴマフリイロウミウシ, 益田一. (1999). 海洋生物ガイドブック. 東海大学出版会.
- ゴマフリイロウミウシ, 益田一. (1999). 海洋生物ガイドブック. 第2刷. 東海大学出版会.
- ゴマフリイロウミウシ, 小野篤司. (1999). ウミウシガイドブック. TBSブリタニカ.
- ゴマフリイロウミウシ, 奥谷喬司. (2000). 日本近海産貝類図鑑. 東海大学出版会.
- モンコウミウシ, 小野篤司. (2004). 沖縄のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- Chromodoris aspersa, 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.
- Chromodoris aspersa, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
- Chromodoris aspersa, 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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.02.008
- モンコウミウシ, 中野理枝. (2018). 日本のウミウシ. 文一総合出版.
- Chromodoris aspersa, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2018). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific 2nd Edition. New World Pubns Inc.
Featured in this book
Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2018). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific 2nd Edition. New World Pubns Inc.
New World Publications
This species, Chromodoris aspersa, is included in the book.
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Tag:
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.