Cuthona cf. kanga ( Edmunds, 1970 )

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This species has been observed on Reunion Island


Order : Nudibranchia
Suborder : Dexiarchia
Superfamily : Fionoidea
Family : Fionidae
Distribution :
Maximal size : 12mm
Abundance :
Species characteristics :

The cerata has a terminal opaque whitish tip and just below an yellow band. The bright ultramarine blue then the pale green colouration below the yellow band.

The basal half of the oral tentacles is orange, the distal half -white

The rhinophores have a white cream coloration

Cuthona kanga
Showing species characteristics...

Photo Sully Bachel
Reunion, La Possession, Ravine à jacques, 6 m, 15 December 2009, size : 10-12 mm

Remarks :

This species looks like Cuthona Kanga but our specimen present some variation, so I prefered to use the term of Cuthona cf. kanga for the moment
    For some author this species belong to genus Trinchesia, and called it Trinchesia cf. kanga
    H. Debelius called a specimen Cuthona kanga in his book " Nudibranch and sea snails " but it was in fact Cuthona sp. See the update for "change name" in : Australia Nudibranch News, N°3 November 1998.
    Synonymous : (according Worms)
               - Trinchesia kanga Edmunds, 1970

Bibliographic data :

The body is translucent greyish, but the dorsal surface is covered with cream pigment from just in front of the rhinophores to the tail tip
    There is also a lateral band of cream
    Each cerata has opaque whitish glands in the cnidosac region, and blotches of white in the cnidosac region and also lower down. The epidermis is yellow just below the cnidosac, but colourless elsewhere. The liver is pale green in the basal half of the cerata, then bright ultramarine blue.
    Malcolm Edmund's description of C. kanga clearly states that the blue and green colouration on the cerata were digestive gland colours seen through a transparent ceratal wall and not pigments on the ceratal skin...
    In Cuthona Kanga like other Cuthona, cnidosac are present at the apex of the cerata.

This aeolid looks like :
                - Cuthona sp. 1, but in Cuthona sp1, the rhinophores are white with a bright red medial band, and cerata with blue apex have a spot of bright red on the cream area
                - Cuthona sp. 2 , but in Cuthona sp2 , the rhinophores and oral tentacles have an orange apical half and the cerata have a pale purple apex

Publications :

Edmunds, M. (1970) Opisthobranchiate Mollusca from Tanzania. II. Eolidacea (Cuthonidae, Piseinotecidae and Facelinidae). Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London, 39: 15-57.
    Cuthona Kanga in : Gosliner,T.M.; Behrens,D.W.; Valdés,A (2008) Indo-pacific nudibranchs and seaslugs A field guide to the World's most diverse fauna

Other photos of Cuthona cf. kanga :

Kevin Bourdon

Reunion, Cap la Houssaye, 10 m, 25 June 2013, size : 5 mm

 

 

Sully Bachel

Reunion, La Possession, ravine a jacques, 6 m, 15 December 2009, size : 10-12 mm

Each cerata has opaque whitish glands in the cnidosac region, and blotches of white in the cnidosac region (a) and also lower down. The epidermis is yellowish-orange (b) just below the cnidosac, but colourless elsewhere. The liver is pale green (d) in the basal half of the ceras, then bright ultramarine blue (c)

The basal half of the oral tentacles is orange (e), the distal half white

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