Felimare tricolor (Cantraine, 1835)

Description

A medium-sized chromodorid 20–30 mm in length. The body is a vivid blue, and the rhinophores and gill plume are also blue. A fine yellow line runs along the dorsal midline, and the mantle margin is bordered by an additional yellow line. The combination of three colours — blue body, yellow midline, and yellow mantle border — is the diagnostic colour pattern of this species and is reflected in its specific epithet.

Distribution

Endemic to the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean Sea. Type locality: Mediterranean (a neotype has been designated from Sicily).

Etymology

The specific epithet tricolor is Latin for "three-coloured", in reference to the three-colour combination of the blue body with a yellow dorsal midline and a yellow mantle border.

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References

• Doris tricolor n. sp., Cantraine F.J. (1835). Diagnoses ou descriptions succinctes de quelques espèces nouvelles de mollusques. Bulletins de l'Académie Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles. 2(11): 380-401.
• Felimare tricolor, 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.