Tan dorid
Photo by Graham Heiberg
Another tan dorid, actually looking tan
Another, whiter tan dorid
Bottom two photos by Guido Zsilavecz
The tan dorid is not always, unlike its common name may suggest, tan in colour. In reality its colour ranges from a pale blue through a bright white to a tan or even light brown colour. Uniform throughout however is the very pale edge, as is the slightly rough texture of the back. It seems to be found only on the Atlantic side of the Cape Peninsula, and generally in deeper waters (10m down to at least 30m) further offshore. Very often it is embedded deep into the reef, within sponges for example, and may not even resemble what one expects a dorid nudibranch to look like, as the gills are tighlty withdrawn, and even the rhinophores may only be barely visible. It is not a common species.
For more details see "Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay", now available from SURG and better Cape Town dive shops.
Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay, G. Zsilavecz, 2007.
Nudibranchs of Southern Africa - a guide to the opisthobranch molluscs of southern Africa, T. Gosliner, 1987.