Baptodoris mimetrica

Photo courtesy of Terry Strait
La Jolla Shores, San Diego, Calif
Dec., 2008

Baptodoris mimetrica Gosliner, 1991 , Gosliner, 1991

Ever since Terry Gosliner enlightened us that “some” of the specimens we were calling the raduless porostome,Dorpiopsilla ablopunctata , were actually radula bearing dorids, I have received dozens of e-mails asking me to determine which their critter was. The problem with these requests is they always were photos of the dorsal surface of the body, and the only external characteristic used to differentiate Baptodoris from the three yellow porostomes is the presence of head tentacles adjacent to the mouth. These tentacles are clearly seen in Terry’s frontal shot above. The yellow porostomes like Doriopsilla albopunctata, Doriopsilla gemela and Doriopsilla spaldingi have no tentacles, only a simple oral tube, making up the mouth.

So the lesson here is – if you want to know whether your animal is a porostome, or the “mimic”, you will need to turn it over and look. Similar in size to the porostomes, the mimic is known from Santa Cruz, California south to Isla San Martin, Baja California, Mexico.

I was certified in 2002 as a Christmas present for my girlfriend and I. After my first open water dive I was hooked. Now 4 years later I have over 600 dives and no plans on slowing down. Most of my diving is right here off the San Diego coast where I have ample opportunity to pursue my passion of searching for and photographing nudibranchs. I didn't even know what a 'branch was until Sean Kearney opened my eyes to the amazing world of the sea slug. Thanks to Sean I have spent way more money than was prudent on dive boats, dive gear and cameras.....all so I can say...."look what I found". I am presently shooting a Nikon D40x with a Nikkor 60mm macro lens in an Ikelite housing. Two DS125 strobes. Send Terry email at divinman@sbcglobal.net

From left to right, Terry Gosliner, Angle Valdes, Dave Behrens La Jolla, Calif.

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