Carminodoris cf. bifurcata Baba, 1993

Mehrotra, Rahul, A. Caballer Gutierrez, Manuel, M. Scott, Chad, Arnold, Spencer, Monchanin, Coline, Viyakarn, Voranop & Chavanich, Suchana, 2021, An updated inventory of sea slugs from Koh Tao, Thailand, with notes on their ecology and a dramatic biodiversity increase for Thai waters, ZooKeys 1042, pp. 73-188 : 73

* Carminodoris cf. bifurcata Baba, 1993 Figure 12D

Material examined.

Two specimens 9-17 mm, HF.

Ecology.

Among rubble in shallow coral reef habitats. Depth 3-8 m.

Distribution.

Carminodoris bifurcata is recorded across the Indo-Pacific including from Mozambique ( Tibiriçá et al. 2017), the Red Sea ( Yonow 2008), Korea ( Koh 2006), the Philippines, Japan, and Hawaii ( Gosliner and Fahey 2011) and Carminodoris flammea is recorded from Indonesia ( Gosliner and Fahey 2011). Neither species has been previously recorded from Thai waters.

Remarks.

Specimens from Koh Tao resemble both Carminodoris bifurcata Baba 1993 and Carminodoris flammea ( Gosliner and Fahey 2011). They differ from the descriptions of the former by lacking any black spots on the dorsum and having a brown rather than grey ground colour and they differ from the latter in having brown rather than grey gill leaves, with white tips, and a tan median colouration instead of the bright red for which the species is named. A very similar looking specimen from Vietnam was identified as Hoplodoris bifurcata by Martynov and Korshunova (2012: pl. 31E). However, see discussions regarding Carminodoris pustulata (Abraham, 1877) by Jensen (1994), Yonow et al. (2002), and Yonow (2017) and indeed by Baba in the original description.

Figures

Figure 12. A Atagema intecta 25 mm (photograph by Nick Tringham) B Atagema spongiosa 95 mm C Atagema sp. 32 mm D Carminodoris cf. bifurcata 9 mm E Discodoris cebuensis 30 mm (photograph by Kirsty Magson) F Discodoris boholiensis 55 mm G Halgerda bacalusia (unknown size, photograph by Stephan Pelletier) H Jorunna funebris 87 mm I Jorunna sp. 10 mm J Peltodoris murrea 30 mm K, L Platydoris cf. formosa 35 mm, dorsal and ventral views (photographs by Kirsty Magson).