Hypselodoris paradisa Gosliner & R. F. Johnson, 2018

Location: Drop Off, Tulamben, Pulau Bali, Indonesia
Date: 2014/01/16
Length: 30mm
Depth: ??m
Water temperature: 29.7℃

Description

Living animals are moderately small, reaching 10 mm in length. The body is translucent pink with rows of opaque white spots, dashes and interrupted lines on the dorsal surface of the notum, and a V-shaped reddish mark posterior to the rhinophores. Anterior and posterior ends of the notum and posterior end of the foot have purple markings. A pink marginal band runs along the notal rim, and small black spots are arranged in linear rows between the white markings. Six unipinnate gill branches have a translucent white base and bright red-orange pigment on apical surfaces and outer margin. Rhinophore bulbs are opaque white with about three red-orange transverse bands and about ten densely arranged lamellae.

Distribution

Presently known only from northern Papua New Guinea. Type locality: outer barrier reef north of Pig (Tab) Island, Madang Lagoon, Papua New Guinea, 39 m depth.

Etymology

Verbatim from the original description (Epstein, Hallas, Johnson, Lopez & Gosliner, 2019, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 186: p.154):

Hypselodoris paradisa is named for the Greek word for paradise, referring to the tropical habitat of this species.

Remarks

Hypselodoris paradisa belongs to a clade that includes Hypselodoris katherinae, Hypselodoris skyleri, Hypselodoris maritima, Hypselodoris rudmani and Hypselodoris bertschi. The colour pattern resembles that of Hypselodoris maculosa and Hypselodoris decorata, but H. paradisa is unique in having a V-shaped reddish patch posterior to the rhinophores and small black spots that are absent in those species. Both H. paradisa and H. decorata have three reddish rhinophoral bands, whereas H. maculosa has only two.