Chromodoris colemani Rudman, 1982 - Chromodorididae

Chromodoris colemani

Rudman, 1982

Photographed by: Ronnie Ng

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Opisthobranchia
Order:	Nudibranchia
Suborder:	Doridina
Family:	Chromodorididae
Species:	Chromodoris colemani

Comment from Richard Willan on photo #1358

An extremely unusual individual (or maybe all the populations from the Marianas Islands are unusual like this) in being very pale and having the longitudinal lines broken into dashes.

Comment from Richard Willan on photo #2451

Like you, I have trouble naming this individual with certainty. It most resembles Chromodoris colemani, but the orange longitudinal lines on the mantle, central brown smudge on the mantle, fewer gills, white secondary pinnae on the gills, and lack of a white marginal band are all different to Chromodoris colemani. Perhaps it is an undescribed species? In any event, the arrangement of the rhinophores, arising from the same base, it a mutation unique to this individual and has no taxonomic significance.