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Additional Photos

side

underside

young

color variant

on food sponge

mating?

egg mass

veligers
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GALLERY

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Thorunna daniellae (Kay & Young,
1969)

Maximum size: about 25 mm
(Hoover, 2006).
Identification:
The
body
of
this small, slender nudibranch is opaque white with
a magenta line encircling the notum just inside the mantle margin. The
rhinophore stalks are translucent, with the clubs orange-red on the
anterior side and opaque white on the posterior side. The gills are
opaque white with orange-red tips. In very young animals, the notum
is translucent and has a herringbone pattern of embedded white spicules
beginning between the rhinophores and ending at the gills. It may be distinguished from Thorunna kahuna
by the lack of prominent opaque-white mantle glands around the
posterior margin. It also has an opaque white (rather than translucent
pink) notum when mature and a boundary between the orange and white
pigment on the rhinophores that is angled rather than straight.
Natural history:
Thorunna daniellae
is a moderately common diurnal species found on rocky bottoms. It
occurs in moderately exposed to highly exposed locations from 5-27 m
(16-90 ft) and vibrates its gills. It lays a pale peach to cream egg
mass that hatches in four to six days in the laboratory. It probably
feeds on a grayish sponge that is usually concealed in algal turf.
Distribution:
Big Island, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Niihau, Midway and Kure: widely distributed in the
Indo-Pacific.
Taxonomic notes:
This
species
was
listed as Hypselodoris
daniellae in Kay, 1979, Kay & Young, 1969 and Kay & Schoenberg-Dole, 1991.
It was named for
malacologist
Danielle Fellows. It's referred to as "Danielle's Thorunna" in Hoover, 1998 and as
"Danielle's nudibranch" in
Hoover, 2006. It was first reported in Hawaii from Ala Moana, Oahu in
March, 1962 (Kay & Young, 1969).
Photo: CP: 8
mm: near McGregor Point, Maui; Oct. 9, 2003.
Observations and comments:
Note
1: ( )
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