Goniobranchus bombayanus (Winckworth, 1946)

Description

Background colour pale grey-brown. A pale blue band runs along the mantle margin, with dark purple spots scattered along the margin and on the central dorsum. Yellow to orange-yellow mantle glands are present both in the submarginal band and on the dorsal centre. Numerous small opaque white spots are scattered over the central dorsum.
Rhinophore clubs are grey-brown with translucent grey bases. Six unipinnate branchial leaves, grey-brown in colour.
Body length reaches approximately 13 mm.

Distribution

Type locality: Bombay (now Mumbai), India. Recorded from the west coast of India, the Andaman Islands, and the Gulf of Bengal.

Etymology

The specific epithet bombayanus refers to Bombay (now Mumbai), India, the type locality.

Remarks

A member of the family Chromodorididae. Presumably feeds on sponges.
Originally described as Glossodoris bombayana Winckworth, 1946, later transferred to Chromodoris and subsequently to Goniobranchus.
Chromodoris naiki Á. Valdés, Mollo & Ortea, 1999 is a junior synonym. In their description, Valdés et al. named it after Dr Chandrakant G. Naik of the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India.
Similar to Goniobranchus kitae, but distinguished by the presence of yellow mantle glands on the dorsal centre (only marginal in Goniobranchus kitae), small white spots on the central dorsum (absent in Goniobranchus kitae), and six branchial leaves (eight in Goniobranchus kitae).

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References

• Glossodoris bombayana n. sp., Winckworth, R. (1946). Glossodoris from Bombay. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. 26: 155-160.
• Chromodoris naiki sp. nov., Valdés Á., Mollo E. & Ortea J. (1999). Two new species of Chromodoris (Mollusca, Nudibranchia, Chromodorididae) from southern India, with a redescription of Chromodoris trimarginata (Winckworth, 1946). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 51(13): 461-472.
• Goniobranchus bombayanus, 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.