''Chromodoris dianae'' 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), ...

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 shell-less 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.� ...

Distribution

This species is known only from the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

.Rudman, W.B., 1998 (April 8
''Chromodoris dianae'' Gosliner & Behrens, 1998
n/nowiki> Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.

Description

''Chromodoris dianae'' can reach a maximum size of 4 cm length. The body is elongate with a foot which is distinct from the upper body by a skirt like mantle partially hiding the foot. This species is very similar in appearance to ''

Chromodoris lochi ''Chromodoris lochi'', common name Loch's chromodoris, or Loch’s chromodoris slug, is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae. Distribution This species is ...

'' although it can be distinguished from the latter by the broken black lines, (as opposed to continuous) and the sprinkling of white specks on the

notum The notum (plural nota) is the dorsal portion of an insect's thoracic segment, or the dorsal surface of the body of nudibranch gastropods. The word "notum" is always applied to dorsal structures; in other words structures that are part of the back ...

. ''Chromodoris dianae'' has white

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

and

rhinophore A rhinophore is one of a pair of Chemoreceptor, chemosensory club-shaped, rod-shaped or ear-like structures which are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy in sea slugs, Marine (ocean), marine gastropod opisthobranch mollusks suc ...

s with distinct yellow-orange tips. The original description includes animals which belong to another species (''Chromodoris'' cf. ''dianae'') which are distinguished by a colour pattern which includes gills and rhinophores orange throughout, orange markings at the edge of the mantle and a different pattern of black markings; confirmed as species level differences by DNA sequences.Gosliner, T.M., Behrens, D.W. & Valdés, Á., 2018. ''Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification - Indo-Pacific.'' New World Publications; 2nd Revised, Updated edition. 452 pp. , , p. 137

Ecology

''Chromodoris dianae'', like many other nudibranchs, feeds on

sponges Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and ar ...

. It has been reported to eat ''Cacospongia mycofijiensis'' and '' Petrosaspongia nigra'', both in the family

Thorectidae Thorectidae is a family of sea sponges in the order Dictyoceratida Dictyoceratida is an order of sponges in the subclass Ceractinomorpha containing five families. Along with the Dendroceratida, it is one of the two orders of demosponges that ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1424341 Chromodorididae Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Gastropods described in 1998