 |
Risbecia pulchella
Photo courtesy of Bob WhortonIndonesia
Visit Bob's website to see more of his great photos!
Risbecia pulchella (Ruppell & Leuckart, 1828)
Well what’s your guess? I’m guessing an odd weird color morph of Risbecia pulchella . Originally described from the Red Sea this species has now been recorded from Indian Ocean and East Africa, and from southern Thailand.
Gohar & Aboul-Ela (1957) conducted a detailed study of this chromodorid species. The following is a summarization of their description of the species. Length reaches about 10cm fully extended. The mantle is opaque white, marked by a bluish purple tinge in irregular areas on the mantle and sides of the foot. All the dorsal surface of the mantle and the foot is covered with yellowish orange spots of irregular shape and different sizes. The mantle margin is fringed with a thin border of bright bluish violet. The posterior tip of the foot may have a similar border. The front of the mantle forms a veil which continuously waves up and down when crawling. The rhinophores have a white stem and blue leaves. The gills are simple and the color of the edge can vary from violet to orange yellow in a single specimen. The gills are often branched and wave rhythmically from side to side. When recently spawned, the egg ribbon is reddish orange and it is attached along one edge in a spiral.
Danville, Calif
May. 2005
March 2005
Ali Hermosillo and Dave Behrens
Author:
Pacific Coast Nudibranchs
Send Dave mail at dave@seachallengers.com
|
