Ardeadoris angustolutea (Rudman, 1990)
25mm

This species is occasionally seen at Enewetak and Kwajalein Atoll. They seem to prefer lagoon interisland reefs and pinnacles at depths of about 4 to 20 meters. While most of them hide under rocks by day, specimens are sometimes seen exposed on rocks during the day or in ledges at night. One was on a sponge encrusted piling under Medren Pier at Enewetak. Sixteen measured specimens ranged from 8 to 25mm in length. Ardeadoris angustolutea was first reported in the Marshalls from Enewetak Atoll in the original description as Noumea angustolutea by Rudman (1990).

The pair below was found under a chunk of prickly Porolithon algae on a shallow western lagoon reef at a depth of about 6m on 20 October 2008. Right in front of the larger one is a small cephalaspidean Colpodaspis thompsoni.

A tiny juvenile no more than 3mm in length was photographed by Stan Jazwinski.

Below is a large, 25mm specimen found at a depth of about 7m in a cave at night on a Kwajalein lagoon reef on 20 June 2009.

A pair over an egg mass.

This unusually yellow individual was under a rock in about 6m of water on the lagoon side of Ennubuj Island on 11 August 2014.

Below is a similar looking species from Hawaii, Ardeadoris scottjohnsoni. This looks in size, shape, color to be closely related to A. angustolutea. The biggest external difference is the overall whiter coloration and the darker, mostly black, rhinophores and gills. Curiously, the same pattern in gill coloration can be seen in Ardeadoris tomsmithi, which occurs both in the Marshalls and in Hawaii. The Hawaiian A. tomsmithi have mostly black rhinophores, much like those of A. scottjohnsoni, while specimens from the Marshalls have brown rhinophores, more like those of A. angustolutea. The differences between A. angustolutea and A. scottjohnsoni should probably be reexamined.

Created 18 December 2005
Updated 13 April 2018

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