Selection: Kaloplocamus ramosus

Kaloplocamus ramosus (Cantraine, 1835) [Doris]

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Kaloplocamus ramosus is characterized by a translucent mantle, with brown or reddish spots all over, and by a row of large papillae around the mantle edge. The upper half of the papillae have many retractile unbranched secondary papillae. The six branched papillae on the head shield or veil are pretty long when extended, much longer than in Plocamopherus.
Kaloplocamus ramosus was initially described from the Mediterranean Sea, and has since been reported from South Africa, West Africa, Japan, Eastern Australia, New Zealand, and Hawai'i.
Let me quote IPN at page 106: "This widespread species needs further study to determine whether it is a single species or a complex of several distinct ones."
Gosliner, Terrence M., David W. Behrens & Ángel Valdés. 2008. Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and Sea Slugs. Sea Challengers Natural History Books.
Gig Harbor, Washington. 426 pp.
Bill Rudman writes at the Sea-Slug Forum: "If the Mediterranean and Indo-West Pacific species prove to be a single species then the name K. ramosus would clearly take precedence but if not then careful consideration would have to be given to the relationship between the Japanese and Australian species for Kaloplocamus yatesi (Angas 1864) is clearly the oldest name for an Indo-West Pacific species."
More informations on Kaloplocamus ramosus are at Bill Rudman's Sea-Slug Forum!