Hantazuia yugoikedai Korshunova, Fletcher & Martynov, 2025
- Location
- Kamagane, Tago, Futou, Dougashima, Shizuoka, Japan
- Date
- 2017/12/21
- Length
- 25mm
- Depth
- 15.0m
- Water temperature
- 16.0℃
Description
A small, narrow-bodied sea slug, up to 12-15 mm long. Background body colour is semi-transparent whitish to greyish, with 20-25 finger-shaped to fusiform cerata along the back. The cerata are opaque yellowish to lemon-coloured (with a granular appearance under magnification), and the cnidosac is positioned subapically with a slightly darker yellow-orange tint than the surrounding ceras. There is no opaque white cap on the cerata tips. Rhinophores are smooth and similar in length to the oral tentacles, covered with yellowish-whitish pigment along almost their entire length. Internal organs are visible through the dorsal body wall in living specimens.Distribution
Type locality: Honshu, Japan, around Jogāshima Island (Miura Peninsula, Kanagawa Prefecture), 10-20 m depth, stony substrate. Mainly known from the Pacific coast of central Honshu; may also occur in southern Honshu and warmer waters.Etymology
The specific epithet yugoikedai honours citizen scientist Yugo Ikeda (池田雄吾), who observed nudibranchs around Jogāshima for many years and made a major contribution by collecting material for the species' description.Remarks
Hantazuia yugoikedai is one of three Hantazuia species described together, alongside the new genus Hantazuia and the new family Hantazuidae. The family/genus name "Hantazu-" derives from the Japanese katakana "ウミウシハンターズ" (Umiushi-hantazu, "sea slug hunters"), in tribute to the diving club at Jogāshima and to citizen-scientist nudibranch observers more broadly. All three Hantazuia species are named after Japanese citizen scientists: H. yugoikedai, H. kimotoi (Nobuhiko Kimoto), and H. imagawai (Kaoru Imagawa). Externally similar to H. kimotoi, but reliably differs in the shape of the copulative stylet, which is significantly longer and more curved.References
- コガネミノウミウシ（仮称）, 益田一. (1999). 海洋生物ガイドブック. 東海大学出版会.
- コガネミノウミウシ, 鈴木敬宇. (2000). ウミウシガイドブック〈2〉. TBSブリタニカ.
- コガネミノウミウシ, 中野理枝. (2004). 本州のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- コガネミノウミウシ, 小野篤司 & 加藤昌一. (2009). ウミウシ. 誠文堂新光社.
- コガネミノウミウシ, 中野理枝. (2018). 日本のウミウシ. 文一総合出版.
- Hantazuia yugoikedai sp. nov., Korshunova T., Fletcher K. & Martynov A. (2025). The endless forms are the most differentiated—how taxonomic pseudo-optimization masked natural diversity and evolution: the nudibranch case. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 204(4): zlaf057. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf057
Featured in this book
中野理枝. (2019). 日本のウミウシ. 第二版. 文一総合出版.
文一総合出版
This species, Hantazuia yugoikedai, is included in the book.
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Tag:
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.