Yes. You got the basic idea!
- The sanna generated depends on both the specific species (human, lion, cow, insect, etc.) and the external object.
- All of these are made with suddhatthaka, which consists of eight components: pathavi, apo, tejo, vayo, vanna, gandha, rasa, and oja. See “The Origin of Matter – Suddhāṭṭhaka.”
- It is the matching of those pairs that provides specific sanna for a specific species.