Jorunna cf. pantherina (Angas, 1864)

トトロウミウシ Jorunna cf. pantherina

Location
Joukesaki Coast, kada, Wakayama, Japan
Date
Length
13mm
Depth
0.2m
Water temperature
18.0℃

Description

A medium-sized dorid reaching about 42 mm in body length and 15 mm in width. The body is elongate-elliptical. In life the ground colour is olivaceous-grey with darker small spots intermingled. The whole mantle is densely covered with small short setiform spines giving a velvety, shark-skin texture. The gills are very large and numerous (specific number not stated), retractile, forming a cup-like circle around the anus, the same colour as the mantle. Angas's type was a single 42 mm long, 15 mm wide specimen.

Distribution

Western and southern Pacific. Type locality: Coodgee Bay (south of Sydney), New South Wales, Australia, based on a single specimen collected by Angas in September. Subsequently recorded from the Hawaiian Islands, southern Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and other western Pacific localities. The "cf. pantherina" qualifier in the database reflects uncertainty over the conspecificity of Japanese material with Angas's Australian type.

Etymology

The specific epithet pantherina is the feminine of Latin pantherinus ("panther-like"), in reference to the panther-fur-like dense fine spinous covering of the dorsum and the spotted ground colour.

Remarks

Originally placed by Angas in Doris. Later transferred to Jorunna; the parentheses in the author citation reflect this generic transfer. The Japanese name "トトロウミウシ" ("Totoro slug") refers to the velvety dorsum evoking the title character of Hayao Miyazaki's animated film "My Neighbour Totoro".

References

A Kindle field guide by the site author

Kimoto N. (2026). Sea Slugs of Japan & the Indo-Pacific, 2nd Edition. cover

Kimoto N. (2026). Sea Slugs of Japan & the Indo-Pacific, 2nd Edition.

Kindle Edition

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Specimen & DNA

Observation Database COI 16S H3
#26459 BOLD Systems SSWBP261-25

Academic Database

Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.

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