TAXONOMY AND OCCURRENCE OF DENDRODORIS-NIGRA AND DENDRODORIS-FUMATA (NUDIBRANCHIA, DENDRODORIDIDAE) IN THE INDO-WEST PACIFIC REGION

The nudibranch Dendrodoris nigra (Stimpson, 1855) has hitherto been co nsidered as a single, highly polychromic species. Our investigations o f external morphology, anatomy and colour variation have revealed more than one species exists. This conclusion gives credibility to the pre vious discovery of differing developmental patterns within D. nigra. B esides D. nigra, we recognise Dendrodoris fumata (Ruppell & Leuckart, 1830) which has three distinguishable colour forms. The occurrence of D. nigra is confirmed to be extensive, however, the species was not fo und to be circum-Australian as previously reported. The presence of D. fumata in Australia is confirmed and the species is also reported fro m Hong Kong and Fiji for the first time. The clear separation of these two species and recognition of the different colour forms will permit a more accurate picture of their distribution.