Goniobranchus annulatus (Eliot, 1904)

Description

Mantle white with scattered orange spots. The gill and the rhinophores are each encircled by a large violet ring, the diagnostic colour pattern that gives the species its name.

Distribution

Indian Ocean, Red Sea and western Pacific. A Lessepsian migrant in the Mediterranean (e.g. Mersin Bay, Turkey). The type locality is Zanzibar.

Etymology

The specific epithet annulatus (Latin, "ringed") refers to the prominent violet rings that surround the gill and the rhinophores.

Remarks

Originally described as Chromodoris annulata Eliot, 1904 in "On some nudibranchs from East Africa and Zanzibar, part IV" (Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.). Transferred to Goniobranchus by Johnson & a 2012 paper on the basis of molecular phylogeny.

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References

• Goniobranchus annulatus, 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.
• Goniobranchus annulatus, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.