Dermatobranchus rodmani Gosliner & Fahey, 2011

Description

Body elongate, triangular, flattened, narrowing posteriorly. The foot projects only slightly beyond the distinct mantle margin. The notum is smooth and fleshy; in the larger Malaysian specimen there are three low distinct longitudinal ridges, but no ridges are evident in the Madagascar material. The oral veil extends forward with rounded corners. Widely spaced, club-shaped rhinophores sit behind the oral veil with longitudinal lamellae on the rounded club; the stalk does not narrow noticeably.
Ground colour of the notum, oral veil and foot is pale pinkish white to tan. One or two transverse brown patches may be present near the anterior and posterior thirds of the body. The notum and oral veil have a yellowish margin which may contain fine punctations of brown. Rhinophores, including the base, lamellae and apex, are brown with a few opaque white spots on their surface.

Distribution

North-west coast of Madagascar to eastern Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. Type locality: west of Nosy Valiha, Radama Islands, Madagascar.

Etymology

Named in honour of Dr James Rodman, long-time Program Officer of the Division of Environmental Biology of the US National Science Foundation, in recognition of his vision and determination in establishing the PEET (Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy) programme, which has been central to training the next generation of opisthobranch mollusc systematists.

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References

• Dermatobranchus sp. 16, 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.
• Dermatobranchus rodmani 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 rodmani, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
• ロドマンオトメウミウシ（新称）, 中野理枝. (2018). 日本のウミウシ. 文一総合出版.