Chromodoris elisabethina Bergh, 1877

Description

In alcohol the ground colour is whitish; the dorsum is ornamented with a submarginal and a median black longitudinal band, and the flanks bear three further black longitudinal bands. The detail of these bands is fairly variable. The largest specimen, slightly relaxed, reached a total length of 5 cm.

The mantle margin is whitish to yellowish-white above and below, white at the extreme outer and inner edges. Within the mantle skirt a black band forms a very elongate ellipse, the area within being white and divided lengthwise by a median black stripe running to the gill aperture. The flanks bear three roughly parallel black longitudinal bands separated by whitish stripes. The rhinophore club is 2.5-3.25 mm high with up to about 35 lamellae. The gill consists of 11-12 plumes in a posteriorly open arc.

Distribution

Type locality: Burias, Philippines. The species is now known throughout the tropical Indo-West Pacific.

Etymology

The specific epithet elisabethina is the Latinised female personal name Elisabeth combined with the adjectival suffix -ina, "of / belonging to Elisabeth". The dedicatee was not named in the original description.

Remarks

Within the genus, the combination of dorsal longitudinal bands and three flank bands provides the external diagnostic pattern.

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References

• Chromodoris elisabethina Bgh. n. sp., Bergh R. (1877). Malacologische Untersuchungen. In: Semper C. (ed.), Reisen im Archipel der Philippinen. II. Wissenschaftliche Resultate. Bd. II, Heft XI: 429-494, Taf. LIV-LVII. Wiesbaden: C.W. Kreidel's Verlag.
• ミスジアオイロウミウシ（新称） Chromodoris lochi, 益田一ほか. (1996). 海岸動物 (フィールド図鑑). 補訂版第2版. 東海大学出版会.
• エリザベスウミウシ, 益田一. (1999). 海洋生物ガイドブック. 第2刷. 東海大学出版会.
• エリザベティーナ, 小野篤司. (1999). ウミウシガイドブック. TBSブリタニカ.
• キベリクロスジウミウシ, 小野篤司. (2004). 沖縄のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
• Chromodoris elisabethina, 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 elisabethina, 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