Relevant Synonyms Doris quadricolor Rüppell and Leuckart, 1828 Misidentification Chromodoris magnifica (Quoy and Gaimard, 1832)  photo: L. Capelli

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body smooth and dorso-ventrally flattened, brightly colored. Mantle ovate with a broad overhang of the edge, and the posterior end of the foot extending beyond the mantle when the animal is crawling. Rhinophores lamellated and the branchial plume located mid-dorsally in the posterior part of the notum. color : notum with two whitish-blue bands and three wider black ones. All around there is a white band, followed by another wider of orange color, and a white edge. Rhinophores and gills darker orange than the band in the mantle edge. common size : usually 40-50 mm; the Mediterranean specimen measured 20 mm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS None of the species of Chromodoris of the Mediterranean Sea has a pattern of black and whitish-blue band, with orange rhinophores, gills and mantle edge. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY This species, like other species of the family Chromodorididae, feeds on sponges. habitat : the single specimen recorded in the Mediterranean was found at 30 m in depth, in a place close to several submarine springs (Cattaneo Vietti, 1986). In the Red Sea C. quadricolor can be found on coral reefs a few meters deep.

1st Mediterranean record Ligurian Sea, Italy, 1986 [1982]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: restricted to the Red Sea and the eastern African coast. Mediterranean: only known from one specimen collected in 1982 in Capo Martola, Imperia, Ligurian Sea, Italy (Cattaneo Vietti, 1986). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Only one specimen recorded in the Mediterranean. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Unknown; possibily from a tropical aquarium. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Barash A. and Zenziper Z., 1994. Notes on opisthobranchia from the Red Sea. Part III. La Conchiglia, 271: 57-61. Cattaneo Vietti R., 1986. On the probable presence of Chromodoris quadricolor quadricolor (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) in the Mediterranean Sea. Bollettino Malacologico, 22(5-8): 167-168. Cattaneo Vietti R., Chemello R. and Giannuzzi-Savelli R., 1990. Atlas of Mediterranean nudibranchs. La Conchiglia, Roma, 264 p.   Rudman W.B., 1977. Chromodorid opisthobranch Mollusca from the Indo-West Pacific. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 52(3): 175-199. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update : December 2003 ©ciesm 2002