Gymnodoris knutsonae De Souza-Canal & Valdés, 2025

Gymnodoris knutsonae

No field photograph submitted for this species yet

Description

Body elongate, narrow, covered with numerous large, rounded to conical tubercles. Velum and notal rim undifferentiated; posterior end of foot tapering into a blunt "tail." Color translucent white, internal organs visible as brown and white masses. Rhinophores bulbous, with 9-10 lamellae, translucent white. Gill of 8-11 short, bipinnate, opaque white leaves arranged in a close circle around the anus. Foot narrower than notum, translucent white; oral tentacles blunt.

Distribution

Apparently endemic to New Caledonia. Type locality: Plateau Karembé, Koumac, North Province, at 13 m depth on a sandy and muddy bottom with big rocks, corals and Alcyonacea. The specimen reported as Gymnodoris sp. 3 from Poindimié by Hervé 2010 most likely corresponds to this species.

Etymology

Verbatim from De Souza-Canal & Valdés 2025:

Named in honor of Vanessa Knutson in recognition for her contributions to the taxonomy and phylogenetics of Gymnodoris. The phylogenetic trees produced for this paper are largely based on her previous work.

Remarks

Very similar in external appearance to Gymnodoris tuberculosa Knutson & Gosliner, 2014, but the two are genetically distinct and were recovered as different species in the species delimitation analysis. The viscera of G. tuberculosa appear more brightly orange than the brown viscera of G. knutsonae, though this could reflect geographic variation in diet and is not conclusive. The two also differ in the structure of the female reproductive system (see the original description for detail). Another externally similar form is Gymnodoris sp. G (sensu Gosliner et al. 2018), also covered with large tubercles and genetically distinct from G. knutsonae, but no internal anatomical data are yet available for comparison.