Dermatobranchus caeruleomaculatus Gosliner & Fahey, 2011

Description

Body elongate, broad, slightly flattened, narrowing posteriorly. The dorsum bears approximately 24 well-elevated longitudinal ridges that may further divide posteriorly. The oral veil is large and expansive with slightly pointed corners. Well-separated, bulbous rhinophores sit behind the oral veil; the rounded club bears longitudinal lamellae and the stalk does not narrow noticeably.
Ground colour of the dorsum is white with a series of brown spots arranged in longitudinal lines along the margins of the ridges. The oral veil and the mantle margin bear a series of bright blue spots, each with a black centre, and finer brown spots are scattered on the posterior part of the oral veil. A marginal yellow-orange band runs along both the notum and the oral veil. Rhinophore stalks are white with brown spots; the clubs are dark brown to black with opaque white pigment on the lamellae and a white tip.

Distribution

Indonesia, eastern Malaysia, Philippines (Gosliner et al., 2008) and Papua New Guinea (Coleman, 2008). Type locality: Waterfall Bay, south side Tioman Island, east Malaysia.

Etymology

Verbatim from the original description (Gosliner & Fahey, 2011, p.291):

The specific name caeruleomaculatus is a noun in apposition and refers to the bright blue spots present on the oral veil and notal margins.

Remarks

Feeds on the soft coral Dendronephthya sp. on sandy slopes in 10–15 m. The egg mass is a highly convoluted ribbon attached to the sand by a mucus thread, with a single egg per capsule.

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References

• Dermatobranchus caeruleomaculatus sp. nov., GOSLINER T.M. & FAHEY S.J. (2011). Previously undocumented diversity and abundance of cryptic species: a phylogenetic analysis of Indo-Pacific Arminidae Rafinesque, 1814 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) with descriptions of 20 new species of Dermatobranchus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 161(2): 245-356. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2010.00649.x
• Dermatobranchus caeruleomaculatus, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
• アオフチオトメウミウシ（新称）, 中野理枝. (2018). 日本のウミウシ. 文一総合出版.