Goniobranchus leopardus

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

Goniobranchus leopardus
The nudibranch Goniobranchus leopardus, facing the camera.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Nudibranchia
Suborder: Doridina
Superfamily: Doridoidea
Family: Chromodorididae
Genus: Goniobranchus
Species:
G. leopardus
Binomial name
Goniobranchus leopardus
(Rudman, 1987)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Chromodoris leopardus Rudman, 1987 (basionym)

Distribution

This species has been reported from NW Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands.[4][5]

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.[6] 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.[7] 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 gill has a whitish external side, the internal surface is golden.[8][9][10][11]

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. 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. Rudman, W.B., 1999 (January 22) Chromodoris leopardus Rudman, 1987. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  5. Beesley, P.L., Ross, G.J.B. & Wells, A., 1998. Mollusca – The southern synthesis, vol.5, CSIRO, ISBN 0-643-05756-0
  6. Debelius, H. & Kuiter, R.H. (2007) Nudibranchs of the world. ConchBooks, Frankfurt, 360 pp. ISBN 978-3-939767-06-0 page(s): 141
  7. 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
  8. Warren, Lindsay , Corolla, Jean-Pierre , Sittler, Alain-Pierre, (2014) Chromodoris leopardus Rudman, 1987 in : DORIS, January 3, 2014
  9. Debelius, Helmut, 2001, Nudibranchs and Sea Snails: Indo-Pacific Field Guide, IKAN – Unterwasserarchiv, Frankfurt, Germany.
  10. David Behrens, Nudibranch behaviour, Newworld Publications INC., 2005, ISBN 978-1878348418
  11. Gary Cobb & Richard Willan, Undersea jewels – a colour guide to nudibranchs, Australian Biological Resources Study, 2006, ISBN 0642568472
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