''Chromodoris ambigua'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of colourful

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some Marine biology, marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial Slug, slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are Sea snail, sea snails (marine gastropod moll ...

, a dorid

nudibranch Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs, belonging to the order Nudibranchia, that shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have b ...

, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

in the family

Chromodorididae Chromodorididae, or chromodorids, are a taxonomic family of colourful sea slugs; dorid nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Doridoidea. “Chromodorid nudibranchs are among the most gorgeously coloured of all animals.� ...

.MolluscaBase (2018)
''Chromodoris ambigua'' Rudman, 1987.
Accessed on 2019-01-24.

Distribution

This chromodorid nudibranch was described from Griffiths Point, E. Head of Port Sorell,

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Australia. It is known only from southern Australia.Burn R. (2006) ''A checklist and bibliography of the Opisthobranchia (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Victoria and the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

area, south-eastern Australia''. Museum Victoria Science Reports 10:1–42.

Description

The mantle of ''Chromodoris ambigua'' is translucent white with irregular spots of orange. The edge of the mantle has an irregular diffuse band of white with purple spots. The gills are translucent with white markings and the rhinophores are beige with white edging to the lamellae.Rudman, W.B., 1999 (June 1
''Chromodoris ambiguus'' Rudman, 1987.
n/nowiki> Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5113848 Chromodorididae Gastropods described in 1987