Armina scotti Mehrotra, Caballer & Chavanich, 2017

Description

From the original diagnosis (Mehrotra et al., 2017):

Armina scotti n. sp. is characterized by its black dorsum with pale yellowish notal ridges, widened forming three rounded blotches, not divergent posteriorly, not bifurcated; oral veil white, with a pale blue submarginal band and yellow edge; white rhinophores with a black subterminal band, which is pale blue on the inner-front sides, orange tips, and a black stripe running to the sides of the oral veil. The cutting edge of the jaws with up to four rows of denticles.

Distribution

Type locality: Koh Tao, Gulf of Thailand, in soft sediment at 11–25 m depth. A 2017 study listed the range as Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan and the Philippines, with earlier records from these areas variously cited as Armina semperi or A. cf. semperi.

Etymology

Verbatim from the Derivatio nominis section of the original description (Mehrotra, Caballer Gutierrez & Chavanich, 2017):

Armina scotti is named after Chad Michael Scott, who has spent more than a decade working to preserve and restore the reefs of Koh Tao, and who created the New Heaven Reef Conservation Program as a proactive research and conservation institute on the island.

Remarks

A member of the family Arminidae. The species had been recorded as Armina semperi or A. cf. semperi in earlier identification guides and Thai records. On the basis of integrative colour, anatomical and molecular evidence, a 2017 study separated it from the true Armina semperi described by Bergh 1866 (1873, 1874) from the Philippines. At Koh Tao, Armina scotti is sympatric with Armina occulta and both species prey on sea pens of the genus Virgularia.

---

References

• Armina semperi, 奥谷喬司. (2000). 日本近海産貝類図鑑. 東海大学出版会.
• アルミナ属の一種, 殿塚孝昌. (2003). ウミウシガイドブック〈3〉. TBSブリタニカ.
• Armina semperi, Helmut Debelius, Rudie H. Kuiter. (2007). Nudibranchs of the World.
• Armina sp. 4, Gosliner T.M., Behrens D.W. & Valdés Á. (2008). Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and Sea Slugs: A field guide to the world's most diverse fauna. Sea Challengers Natural History Books, 426 pp.
• Armina semperi, Chavanich S., Viyakarn V., Sanpanich K. & Harris L.G. (2013). Diversity and occurrence of nudibranchs in Thailand. Marine Biodiversity. 43: 31-36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-012-0129-0
• Armina cf. semperi, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
• Armina scotti, Mehrotra R., Caballer Gutierrez M. & Chavanich S. (2017). On the genus Armina (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Nudibranchia) in Thailand. Marine Biodiversity. 47(2): 549-559. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-017-0691-6
• ホソハスエラウミウシ, 中野理枝. (2018). 日本のウミウシ. 文一総合出版.
• キフチハスエラウミウシ（新称）, 中野理枝. (2019). 日本のウミウシ. 第二版. 文一総合出版.