Halgerda stricklandi Fahey & Gosliner, 1999

Description

A firm, smooth-bodied dorid with a notably high body profile. The dorsum bears orange-tipped conical tubercles arranged in a reticulate pattern, with larger orange-tipped tubercles at the junctions of the network; a faint white ring sits just below the orange tip on the largest tubercles. The whitish-gray ground color is densely sprinkled with smaller orange tubercles, but no orange lines connect the tubercles. The translucent white rhinophores carry 17-19 lamellae outlined in black on the anterior face, with a yellow tinge on the upper half of the club and a vertical black line running the length of the posterior face. The four pinnate branchial leaves are spotted with black on their anterior side. The foot has an orange margin. The holotype measures about 35 mm.

Distribution

Type locality: Ko Ha, Andaman Sea, Thailand, 13 m depth. Subsequent records extend the distribution along the Andaman Sea coast to Myanmar, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Etymology

Named in honour of Mark Strickland.

Remarks

One of three new Halgerda species described from the Thai Andaman Sea by a 1999 revision, recovered as the sister species of Halgerda bacalusia. Externally similar to Halgerda carlsoni and Halgerda malesso, but in H. stricklandi the orange-tipped tubercles stand free on the dorsum, whereas in H. carlsoni and H. malesso they are linked by orange ridge crests.

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References

• Halgerda stricklandi sp. nov., Fahey S.J. & Gosliner T.M. 1999. Preliminary phylogeny of Halgerda (Nudibranchia: Halgerdidae) from the tropical Indo-Pacific, with descriptions of three new species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, (4) 51(11): 425-448.
• Halgerda stricklandi, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.