Glossodoris hikuerensis (Pruvot-Fol, 1954)
- Location
- Horse Shoes, Okinawa Island (Onna and Yomitan area), Okinawa, Japan
- Date
- 2010/03/24
- Length
- 80mm
- Depth
- 7.0m
- Water temperature
- 23.0℃
Description
A large chromodorid reaching about 80 mm in length alive, with a brown mantle densely overlaid with irregular white to brownish-white speckles, and a characteristic four-band marginal pattern of brown, white, black, and white.The mantle is elongately oval, relatively thin, and its broad overlap forms low primary and secondary undulations. The ground colour is brown and is densely overlaid with white to brownish-white speckles, which coalesce towards the mantle edge to form a pale submarginal band. The mantle margin, viewed from inside outwards, consists of a narrow brown line, a brownish-white band, a greyish-black line, and an outermost brownish-white band.
The rhinophores are brown with white speckling and a continuous white line along both the anterior and posterior midlines. The gills are simple, with translucent white lamellae edged by a fine brown line. The foot is translucent white with a diffuse submarginal greyish-black band.
Diet is not reliably documented. Glossodoris cincta resembles this species in colour pattern but differs in body form, in lacking the distinct four-band marginal pattern, and in several anatomical details.
Distribution
The type locality is Hikueru Atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. The species is widely distributed across the Indo-Pacific, with records from East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania), Christmas Island (Indian Ocean), Indonesia, northern Australia (Great Barrier Reef, Heron Island, Broadhurst Reef), Fiji, and Polynesia, on coral reef flats and slopes down to about 30 m.Etymology
The specific epithet hikuerensis refers to Hikueru Atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia, where the type material was collected.References
- Rosodoris hikuerensis sp. nov., Pruvot-Fol A. (1954). Mollusques opisthobranches. (Mission Ranson 1952). Bulletin de l'Institut Océanographique, Monaco. (1075): 1-32.
- Glossodoris hikuerensis (Pruvot-Fol, 1954), Rudman W.B. (1986). The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: the genus Glossodoris Ehrenberg (= Casella, H. & A. Adams). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 86(2): 101-184.
- グロッソドリス・ヒクエレンシス, 殿塚孝昌. (2003). ウミウシガイドブック〈3〉. TBSブリタニカ.
- Glossodoris hikuerensis, 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.
A Kindle field guide by the site author
Kimoto N. (2026). Sea Slugs of Japan & the Indo-Pacific, 2nd Edition.
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Photos of Glossodoris hikuerensis
Tag:
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.