Chromodoris willani
Willan's chromodoris
Solomon Islands · Pacific Ocen - Solomon Sea
- Size
- 15–25 mm · max 30 mm
- Depth
- 15–30 m
- Native range
- Western Pacific: Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Micronesia, Vanuatu and Queensland
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Description
A pale blue Chromodoris named after the Australian malacologist Dr R. C. Willan, who collected the type material in Vanuatu. It belongs to a group of similar blue-and-black striped species that are best separated by the colour of the gills and rhinophores.
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/species/chromodoris-willani-solomon-islands-pacific-ocen-solomon-sea/
Identification
Pale blue to bluish-white, elongate-oval mantle with a thin white edge and black longitudinal lines, including a thin black line outlining the mantle outside the rhinophores and gills. The key mark is the translucent brownish to straw-coloured gills and rhinophores, speckled with white spots and patches. Up to about eight gills held upright.
Similar species
Chromodoris lochi has a more spatulate mantle and plain orange-yellow (not white-speckled) gills and rhinophores; C. dianae and C. boucheti have orange-yellow gills and rhinophores and often an orange or yellow mantle border.
Habitat & diet
Habitat
Coral reefs and slopes; about 15–30 m.
Food
Sponges (recorded on red and white sponges).
