OKINAWAN
OPISTHOBRANCH OF THE WEEK

Opisthobranch of the Week Data

Taxonomy:

        Chromodoris strigata is considered to be very rare on Okinawa as I have seen and collected a total of only two individuals (June and September of 1992). C. strigata is one of several described species of striped Chromodoris found in Okinawan waters. The above featured animal was found crawling in an area of mixed sand and coral rubble at a depth of fifty-two meters during a mid-morning dive.

        Rudman (1982) reports there are few records of the species and in his initial description he found animals from the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland and from the western Indian Ocean, north of Madagascar. Ono (1999) describes C. strigata being found on Gahi Island, an island of the Kerama Islands group (as is Okinawa, part of the Ryukyu Archipelago). The name "strigata" comes from the Latin, meaning streaky or striped.

Literature Cited: