Goniobranchus conchyliatus (Yonow, 1984)

Description

A medium-sized chromodorid reaching about 15 mm in length, with the foot extending beyond the mantle. The mantle margin and the rear of the foot are edged with a milky white band; the dorsum is pale violet with rounded creamy yellow patches and deeper violet and red markings. Three dark violet figures ornament the dorsum: a V-shape pointing forward toward the rhinophores, two broad lateral bands converging in the midline anterior to the gills, and an X-shape on the rear of the mantle. These violet marks redden in places and trace bilaterally symmetrical yellow spots. Ventrally the head, oral tentacles and foot are white, while the hyponotum is dark purple in regions corresponding to pale violet on the dorsum. Where the dorsal margin is white, the corresponding ventral edge is bright red, fading anteriorly. The rhinophores are red with white stalks, and the eight pinnate gills are red above with pale violet rachides and white pinnae below.

Distribution

The type locality is Koduwakattumalai Bay, approximately 35 km north of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, where the type material was collected under dead coral at 4 m depth. The species is recorded across the Indian Ocean, including the East African coast.

Etymology

The specific epithet conchyliata derives from the Latin conchyliatus, "dressed in purple", originally referring to the Tyrian purple dye obtained from murex shells, in reference to the rich violet and red dorsal pattern.

Remarks

The same paper that introduced this species also described Chromodoris adeima and two new species in the genus Phyllidia.

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References

• Chromodoris conchyliata, Yonow N. (1984). Doridacean nudibranchs from Sri Lanka, with descriptions of four new species. The Veliger. 26(3): 214-228.
• Goniobranchus conchyliatus, 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 conchyliatus, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2018). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific 2nd Edition. New World Pubns Inc.