Taxonomy and occurrence of Dendroris nigra and Dendrodoris fumata in the Indo-west Pacific.

Brodie, Gilianne D. and Willan, Richard and Collins, John (1997) Taxonomy and occurrence of Dendroris nigra and Dendrodoris fumata in the Indo-west Pacific. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 63 (3). pp. 407-423. ISSN 0260-1230

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Abstract

The nudibranch Dendrodoris nigra (Stimpson, 1855) has hitherto been considered as a single, highly poly-chromic species. Our investigations of external morphology, anatomy and colour variation have revealed more than one species exists. This conclusion gives credibility to the previous discovery of differing developmental patterns within D. nigra. Besides D. nigra, we recognise Dendrodoris fumata (Rüppell & Leuckart, 1830) which has three distinguishable colour forms. The occurrence of D. nigra is confirmed to be extensive, however, the species was not found to be circum-Australian as previously reported. The presence of D. fumata in Australia is confirmed and the species is also reported from Hong Kong and Fiji for the first time. The clear separation of these two species and recognition of the different colour forms will permit a more accurate picture of their distribution.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment (FSTE) > School of Biological and Chemical Sciences
Depositing User:	Gilianne Brodie
Date Deposited:	03 Mar 2015 04:51
Last Modified:	03 Mar 2015 04:51
URI:	http://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/7800

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