Tiny slug from Bali

about 1 cm long

Herb,

I think this is a Cuthona Kanga. You can find it on page 307 of H. Debelius book.

Cheers,

Mat

I agree with Mat sort of..... it is the same animal as shown in Debelius but Bill Rudman now thinks this is really Cuthona yamasui. You can check it out at both

http://slugsite.us/bow/nudwk180.htm and

http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=cuthyama

And if anyone does look at the Sea Slug Forum let me know if you see the images. All I'm getting is text.

Here's the image from your first link:

http://slugsite.us/bow/nudwk180.htm

Does not look like the same species from this view.

But the image from the second link

http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=cuthyama

looks like a match.

I'd actually read that page on Sea Slug forum, as well as some of Leslie's prior posts, that's why I'd said "I think" rather than "This is"

In the slugsite.us photo, it seems like the blue bands are much longer proportionally to the other bands, and also there is a white "dot" at the tip of the cerata and rhinophores. Also, the latter are transluscent in Herb's photo and the one on Sea Slug forum, but not on slugsite.us.

Leslie, would such differences be enough to distinguish 2 different species? Because if it is so, then the 2 sites have contradicting descriptions...

Expert advice needed

Mat

Both sites discuss the variation in color which isn't nearly as great as in some other nudibranchs.

....would such differences be enough to distinguish 2 different species?  Because if it is so, then the 2 sites have contradicting descriptions... 

Expert advice needed 

Mat

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're right, expert advice needed and I'm not a slug expert!

Some of the slugs are really variable in color, so variable in fact that it's really baffling to a non-expert. Sometimes the wide range in variation is backed up by dissections to check internal characters, sometimes it isn't. ?????? For this particular one, there seems to be a consensus now that a number of color forms all fit under the name C. yamasui. Take a look at this Sea Slug Forum post..... www?seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=8726 Other posts on SSF show even more variants.