Hypselodoris peasei (Bergh, 1880)

Description

A medium-sized chromodorid 30–50 mm in body length. The ground colour is translucent white to pale yellow, with scattered yellow to orange spots on the dorsum. The mantle margin is bordered with orange to red, and the rhinophores and gill are orange. The dorsum is smooth and the mantle is broad, covering most of the flanks.

Distribution

Type locality: the Hawaiian Islands. The species remains endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, where it is found on shallow reefs and rocky bottoms.

Etymology

Named in honour of the American malacologist Pease, who studied Hawaiian and South Pacific molluscs.

Remarks

Originally described by Bergh as Chromodoris peasei in 1880 from material from the North Pacific and Hawaii, the species was subsequently transferred to Hypselodoris; the parentheses in the author citation reflect this generic transfer.

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References

• Hypselodoris peasei, 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.
• Hypselodoris peasei, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2018). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific 2nd Edition. New World Pubns Inc.