Selection: Chelidonura tsurugensis

Chelidonura tsurugensis Baba & Abe 1959

Click the thumbnail photos to enhance!

Chelidonura tsurugensis is characterized by an opaque white marking at the anterior edge of the head-shield on each side, the general body colour is a glossy purplish black. "The whole upper surface except the sole is covered with a varying number of yellow or golden-yellow spots, very irregular in size and in arrangement." from the original paper by Baba & Abe (1959)
Some scientist guess a synonymy of Chelidonura sandrana Rudman, 1973, which is considered to be highly variable
It is in IPN as Chelidonura tsuruganus because the name refers to the type locality Tsuruga Bay, Japan.
A picture of it from Mizushima, Tsuruga Bay is at the website of the Takaoka Biological Club.
I dont know which name is correct, I follow WoRMS World Register of Marine Species.
Gosliner, Terrence M., David W. Behrens & Ángel Valdés. 2008. Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and Sea Slugs. Sea Challengers Natural History Books.
Gig Harbor, Washington. 426pp.
Possible colour variants are Chelidonura sp. 01, Chelidonura sp. 02, and Chelidonura sp. 03.
More informations on Chelidonura tsurugensis are at Robert F. Bolland's OKINAWA SLUG SITE !