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Eubranchus cf. rubropunctatus??
Photo courtesy of Jim Black
Anilao,Batangas, Philippines
May, 2007
Eubranchus cf. rubropunctatus, Edmunds, 1969
Dave is convalescing from a minor operation so the Ol' webmaster is stepping up to bat for a couple of weeks. Please bear with me in the interim.
This week's BOW is the result of veteran world traveler and underwater photographer Jim Black sending in a series of images from a recent Philippines trip that tweaked my interest.
The Eubranchus image pictured above was of immediate interest. A second closer image provides a in detail lateral view. I had just seen this guy myself in the same Anilao area in April and previously in January of this year while in Bali of this year. After rummaging through my nudibranch books, I came across what is almost certainly the same animal on page 243 of Rie Nakano's Opisthobranchs of the Islands of Japan . Hunky dory I thought, this is a done deal! But can that ever be true in branchology??
After reviewing the information available on Bill Rudman's Sea Slug Forum in preparation for this BOW, I am now not so sure (of the ID).
The following information is from the original description:
"transparent greyish and the whole of the dorsal and lateral surfaces are covered in brownish-yellow spots and with white spots. ... The cerata are huge for the size of the animal and have two tiers of tubercles and a bulbous tip. The liver duct in the cerata is brown and narrow but swells just below the cnidosac region as in Eubranchus misakiensis. The tubercles are white and there is a band of white just below the cnidosac region. Distal to this is a band of gold, then a band of pale blue containing from four to six circular red spots, then another band of gold, and the tip of the cnidosac is clear."
Evidently Eubranchus rubropunctatus was described from one 4mm long juvenile according to the Forum. I tend now to think that we're discussing two different animals but for the time being will opt for Eubranchus cf. rubropunctatus. You be the judge!
A
video (flash format)
from the April trip to the Philippines is coincidentally also available of this guy! To further complicate matters, check out this second short video (also flash format) of another apparently unnamed
Eubranchus sp.
videoed in Bali, Indonesia
San Diego, Calif
June, 2007
Jim Black on location
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Jim is retired from US Airways after 27 years as a pilot..., flying Captain on an Airbus 330 Internationally. Diving since 1970...with over 5200 dives logged. Shoots Nikon F4s in housing and Nikonos RS. Jim's photography has been featured in a number of books and publications including Helmut Debelius' Nudibranchs and Sea Snails of Gosliner, Behrens and Williams Coral Reef Animals of the Indo-Pacific. A photo of Jim petting a shark in "Sleeping Shark Caves" off Isla Mujeres Island, Mexico, taken by Amy Foster his significant other, recently appeared in Dave Behrens' Diving Guide to Cozumel, Cancun & The Riviera Maja. Send Jim email at jim.black1@comcast.net |
March 2005
Ali Hermosillo and Dave Behrens
Author:
Pacific Coast Nudibranchs
Send Dave mail at dave@seachallengers.com
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