Goniobranchus leopardus

Goniobranchus leopardus
The nudibranch Goniobranchus leopardus, facing the camera.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
Superfamily: Doridoidea
Family: Chromodorididae
Genus: Goniobranchus
Species: G. leopardus
Binomial name
Goniobranchus leopardus
(Rudman, 1987)[1]
Synonyms[2]

Chromodoris leopardus Rudman, 1987 (basionym)

Goniobranchus leopardus, is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.[2][3]

Distribution

This species has been reported from NW Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands.[4]

Description

Goniobranchus leopardus can reach a maximum size of 6 cm length.[4] The body is elongate with a foot which is distinct from the upper body by a large skirt like mantle hiding the foot. The top of the mantle is brownish with dark spots circled with white. The margin of the mantle is white with at the external border a fine purple to electric blue line. The rhinophores are lamellate and contractile, the base is white topped with blue to purple but they can also be white with a longitudinal blue to purple line. The branched gills have a whitish external side, the internal surface is golden.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Rudman W.B. (1987) The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Chromodoris epicuria, C. aureopurpurea, C. annulata, C. coi and Risbecia tryoni colour groups. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 90: 305–407. page(s): 358
  2. 1 2 Gofas, S. (2015). Goniobranchus leopardus (Rudman, 1987). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-11-17
  3. ↑ 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
  4. 1 2 Rudman, W.B., 1999 (January 22) Chromodoris leopardus Rudman, 1987. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  5. ↑ Warren, Lindsay , Corolla, Jean-Pierre , Sittler, Alain-Pierre, (2014) Chromodoris leopardus Rudman, 1987 in : DORIS, January 3, 2014

Further reading

  • Debelius, H. & Kuiter, R.H. (2007) Nudibranchs of the world. ConchBooks, Frankfurt, 360 pp. ISBN 978-3-939767-06-0 page(s): 141
  • Gosliner, T.M., Behrens, D.W. & Valdés, Á. (2008) Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and seaslugs. A field guide to the world's most diverse fauna. Sea Challengers Natural History Books, Washington, 426 pp. page(s): 217
  • Debelius, Helmut, 2001, Nudibranchs and Sea Snails: Indo-Pacific Field Guide, IKAN – Unterwasserarchiv, Frankfurt, Germany.
  • P.L.Beesley, G.J.B. Ross, A.Wells, Mollusca – The southern synthesis, vol.5, CSIRO, 1998, ISBN 0-643-05756-0
  • David Behrens, Nudibranch behaviour, Newworld Publications INC., 2005, ISBN 978-1878348418
  • Gary Cobb & Richard Willan, Undersea jewels – a colour guide to nudibranchs, Australian Biological Resources Study, 2006, ISBN 0642568472
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