OKINAWAN
OPISTHOBRANCH OF THE WEEK
Hypselodoris infucata (Ruppell & Leuckart, 1828) 36mm
Opisthobranch of the Week Data
Taxonomy:
- Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
- Suborder: Doridina
- Family: Chromodorididae
Frequency on Okinawa:
Collection Data:
- Individual Collection No: RFB #2171-B
- Location: Seragaki, Okinawa (26o 30.4'N, 127o 52.6'E)
[Horseshoe, Seragaki, Tengan]
- Date: 26 May, 1989 [28 Mar '87, 9 May '87, 26 May '89, 2 May '90, 1 Mar '91,
13 Feb '93, 20 Mar '93]
- Depth: 25ft (7.6m) [10ft, 10ft, 10ft, 20ft, 25ft, 40ft, 40ft]
- Water temperature at collection depth: 78.1oF{at 10ft} (25.6oC)
- Size: TL 36mm [27mm, 31mm, 34mm, 35mm, 36mm, 40mm, 40mm]
- Specimen deposited: RFB Personal Research Collection
[brackets indicate range for all Okinawa-collected specimens of the species]
Species Account:
Hypselodoris infucata is a very commonly encountered chromodorid on Okinawa; although I've collected only seven individuals, a great many others have been seen and some cases photographed, but not collected. H. infucata is the common opisthobranch seen during dives at the Tengan Pier area; some dives here have produced an excess of a hundred individuals during a 150 ~ 200 minute excursion between 6 & 14m.
The animals show quite a bit of variation in color but the featured animal above exhibits the most commonly seen pigmentation and pattern found in the Okinawan material.
Page Date: 24 Aug '98
Page Modification Date: 24 Aug '98
Digitally manipulated photo
Copyright © 2000 Robert F. Bolland
