This looks as though it should be called Dendrodoris rubra, but that species is thought to be a synomym of D. fumata, and our animals do not too closely resemble the original description anyway. Although known in the Marshalls from only a few specimens from Kwajalein, the same species, or at least an identical color form, is also occasionally found in Hawaii. Gosliner et al (2018) show one of these specimens as Dendrodoris sp. 7.
The specimen in the two photos below was found under a rock at a depth of 15m on Kwajalein Atoll's seaward reef on 24 June 2007.
The two photos below show a specimen found under a rock on the seaward reef on 1 August 2010.
A few specimens have a darker maroon red dorsum such as the one below from Stan Jazwinski. We have seen the same color variation in Hawaiian specimens.
Created 25 December 2006
Updated 12 September 2019