Chromodoris kuiteri Rudman, 1982

Description

Mantle predominantly black with a broad orange marginal border; the boundary between the black and orange regions is diffuse. Four thin white longitudinal lines run within the black region — the outer pair runs parallel to the mantle border, while the inner pair sometimes joins anteriorly into a closed loop. Rhinophore and gill pockets edged in orange; rhinophores and gills uniformly orange, more intense than the marginal border. Sides of body and foot black with three white longitudinal lines; the foot is edged with a broad orange band. Mantle elongately ovate; gills simple, in a horseshoe, up to 16 counted. Reaches 36 mm preserved.

Distribution

Type locality is North-West Island, Capricorn Group, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia (September 1963). Recorded from northern New South Wales (Coffs Harbour), Queensland (Capricorn Group: Heron, Tryon, One Tree islands, Coral Canyons; Keppel Bay near Yeppoon), Western Australia (Houtman Abrolhos Group), and Lord Howe Island.

Etymology

The specific epithet kuiteri honours Rudie Kuiter and his wife Alison Kuiter, who collected and photographed extensive sublittoral nudibranch material in Australia and provided much of it to the Australian Museum (verbatim from the original description).

Remarks

An apparent relative of Chromodoris africana and Chromodoris magnifica, but distinguished by (1) narrower white lines and a more dominant black field, and (2) more strongly developed denticulation on the radular teeth.

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References

• Chromodoris kuiteri, 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 kuiteri, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
• Chromodoris kuiteri, 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