Chelidonura punctata Eliot, 1903

Yonow, Nathalie, 2012, Opisthobranchs from the western Indian Ocean, with descriptions of two new species and ten new records (Mollusca, Gastropoda), ZooKeys 197, pp. 1-130 : 5

Chelidonura punctata Eliot, 1903 Plate 4

Chelidonura hirundinina var. punctata Eliot, 1903a: 336, pl. 8, fig. 2 (Zanzibar).

Chelidonura punctata . - Yonow and Hayward 1991: 4, fig. 4F (Mauritius); Yonow et al. 2002: 834, fig. 2a (Chagos); Mangubhai 2007; fig. 1 (Kenya); Apte 2009: 165, fig. 1e (Laccadive Islands).

non Chelidonura punctata . - Yonow 2008: 79 (Gulf of Eilat) (misidentification).

Material.

Maldives: 15 mm (MDV/AB/96/15, "very dark brown, almost black, white edge anteriorly and blue grey edge to parapodia, with orange-red spots"), Fulidhoo Channel, Felidhoo Atoll, 9 m depth on coral rock, 7 May 1996, leg. RC Anderson & SG Buttress. - Mauritius, La Réunion, and Mayotte: five individuals photographed http://seaslugs.free.fr/nudibranche/a_intro.htm.

Distribution.

Chelidonura punctata appears to be restricted to the western Indian Ocean; to date there are no records of the species occurring in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, or the Persian Gulf. The similar species found in the Gulf of Eilat (recorded erroneously as Chelidonura punctata in Yonow 2008) and in the Seychelles (pers. obs.) is illustrated here as Chelidonura cf. punctata (Plate 5) for comparison as no specimens are available; it has many small, yellower spots which appear to be slightly raised, lacks the white margins to the parapodia but has broken white markings along the posterior margin of the posterior shield, and the tails are very differently proportioned. It is also appears to be small, but without specimens, identification is impossible.

Remarks.

An interesting paper documenting the feeding habits of Chelidonura punctata in Kenya describes the association between it and an acoel flatworm present on the hard coral Platygyra daedalea ( Mangubhai 2007); neither the sea slug nor the flatworm was observed on other coral species. A similar association was observed between Chelidonura livida and Waminoa cf. brickneri in the Red Sea ( Yonow 2008).