Felimare orsinii (Vérany, 1846)

Description

A small chromodorid dorid reaching only about 15 mm in length, the smallest of the European Felimare. The body is stout with a uniformly dark-blue background colour. A single white longitudinal stripe runs along the midline of the dorsum, and the mantle margin is bordered by a fine yellow line. The gills and rhinophores are entirely blue.

Distribution

Originally described from the gulfs of Genoa and Nice in the north-western Mediterranean. Subsequently recorded across the whole Mediterranean basin, as well as in the Strait of Gibraltar and along the Cantabrian Sea coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

Etymology

The specific epithet orsinii is presumed to honour the Italian naturalist Antonio Orsini (1788–1870).

Remarks

Feeds primarily on the sponge Scalarispongia scalaris.

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References

• Doris orsinii, Vérany J.B. (1846). Catalogo degli animali invertebrati marini del Golfo di Genova e Nizza. Genova: Tipografia Ferrando. pp. 20-21.
• Hypselodoris orsinii (Verany, 1846), Gosliner T.M. & Johnson R.F. (1999). Phylogeny of Hypselodoris (Nudibranchia: Chromodorididae) with a review of the monophyletic clade of Indo-Pacific species, including descriptions of twelve new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 125: 1-114. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1999.tb00585.x
• Felimare orsinii, 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.