Chromodoris africana Eliot, 1904

Description

Ground colour black with two parallel white longitudinal stripes along the dorsum. The mantle margin is bordered by an inner white band and an outer orange band. Rhinophores and gill leaves are yellow to orange, completing the diagnostic colour pattern. Resembles the Indo-Pacific Chromodoris quadricolor and C. magnifica, but is distinguished by the orange marginal band and the number of dorsal stripes.

Distribution

Red Sea and the western Indian Ocean. The type locality is Zanzibar (Tanzania).

Etymology

The specific epithet africana is the Latin for "African" and refers to the East African type locality.

Remarks

Originally described as a variety, Chromodoris elisabethina var. africana Eliot, 1904, in "On some nudibranchs from East Africa and Zanzibar, part IV" (Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.); subsequently elevated to full-species rank.

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References

• Chromodoris africana, 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.
• Chromodoris africana, Layton K.K., Gosliner T.M. & Wilson N.G. (2018). Flexible colour patterns obscure identification and mimicry in Indo-Pacific Chromodoris nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Chromodorididae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 124: 27-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.02.008