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Goniobranchus kuniei

Photographic identification review

Evidence for this exact frame

Reviewed hypotheses are preserved separately from the current archive label and from iNaturalist computer vision. They record what the photograph supports, what remains plausible, and what the frame cannot resolve.

1 assessment

Latest audit record

Conclusion: Goniobranchus kuniei

Reviewed by Codex identification research on Aug 29, 2026 · 95% reviewer confidence.

Reasoning recorded at review

  • The animal is broad and oval with an ample, relatively low mantle skirt that widely overlaps the body.
  • The mantle edge forms a broad compound border with multiple purple-violet zones and a pale creamy transition, not a single fine line.
  • The cream-to-ochre dorsum carries predominantly separate solid dark violet-purple spots, each surrounded by a bright pale-blue, violet-white, or cream halo.
  • Pale cream-to-yellow rhinophores and a large pale gill circlet are compatible supporting characters.
  • Despite darker exposure, the complete broad body, compound purple border, separate pale-ringed spots, and pale appendages are visible.

Alternatives considered

  • Goniobranchus leopardus

    Why plausible: A member of the same colour group with an ochre ground, purple marks, and a purple edge.

    Comparison: G. leopardus should show only a fine purple edge and smaller marks more often organized into hollow rings or multi-spot leopard patterns; neither combination is visible here.

  • Hypselodoris tryoni

    Why plausible: Shares solid dark marks with pale halos and colour-group similarity.

    Comparison: H. tryoni should be high, elongate, and narrow with reduced mantle overlap and only a fine violet edge, contrary to the broad low multi-banded mantle visible here.

  • Goniobranchus geminus / Goniobranchus tritos

    Why plausible: Indian Ocean colour-group analogues can share a broad chromodorid body and haloed dorsal spots.

    Comparison: A specimen-backed comparison of the full marginal band order and internal anatomy or molecular data would be required; locality is supporting context only and is not used to exclude them by itself.

Evidence limits & sources +
  • • No voucher anatomy or molecular sequence is available, so the photographic conclusion remains probable rather than confirmed.
  • • Underwater lighting changes cream, ochre, violet, and blue hues; the decision therefore relies on body form, relative band widths, and spot construction.
  • • The ventral mantle and foot pattern is not completely exposed in this frame.
Ambon chromodorid specimen treatment ↗Primary paper · Yonow, N. (2001). Results of the Rumphius Biohistorical Expedition to Ambon (1990). Part 11. Doridacea of the families Chromodorididae and Hexabranchidae. Zoologische Mededelingen 75: 1-50. · Chromodoris kuniei account, pp. 22-23 and pl. 3 fig. 1; C. leopardus comparison, p. 23 · checked Aug 29, 2026 · comparison image suppliedContribution: The broad overlap, multi-banded purple-and-cream edge, creamy dorsum, and separate violet spots match the specimen-backed G. kuniei account and conflict with Yonow's G. leopardus distinction.Rudman revision of the tryoni colour group ↗Primary paper · Rudman, W. B. (1987). The Chromodorididae of the Indo-West Pacific: the genus Risbecia and tryoni colour groups. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 90(4): 305-407. · G. kuniei and tryoni colour-group accounts; figs 39 and 42-43 · checked Aug 29, 2026 · comparison image suppliedContribution: Supports the whole-animal comparison among G. kuniei, H. tryoni, G. leopardus, and related colour-group species.Modern chromodorid classification ↗Primary paper · Johnson, R. F. & Gosliner, T. M. (2012). Traditional taxonomic groupings mask evolutionary history: a molecular phylogeny and new classification of the chromodorid nudibranchs. PLOS ONE 7(4): e33479. · Chromodorid classification and Goniobranchus placement · checked Aug 29, 2026Contribution: Supplies the current Goniobranchus combination for literature that used Chromodoris kuniei; it is nomenclatural context rather than photographic evidence.

Connected record

What this frame carries

Date
Jul 17, 2026
Site
Tawali Resort House Reef
Dive
Dive 3 - Tawali Resort House Reef
Depth evidence
2.3m · profile-estimated
Water
24.0°C
Identification
98% confidence

Environmental values describe this archive encounter. Profile-estimated depth is aligned from capture time and the dive-computer profile; it is not camera-recorded depth.