OKINAWAN
OPISTHOBRANCH OF THE WEEK

Opisthobranch of the Week Data

Taxonomy:

        This very attractive small chromodorid, Durvilledoris pusilla, is considered to be rare on Okinawa as I have seen and collected a total of eight individuals since the first one was collected during August of 1991.

        There are several chromodorid species found here on Okinawa which are quite similar in external appearance as well as color pattern, and, quite remarkably, two species of Okinawan Noumea, N. purpurea and N. varians, are more similar appearing to Durvilledoris pusilla than is D. pusilla. Two other species of Durvilledoris found in Okinawan waters are D. lemniscata and D. similaris. Although all four species found here are variable in color and pattern, D. pusilla can usually be separated from the other similar appearing species by its two pairs of purple lobes which uniformly extend to the lateral margins of the notum.