Mexichromis festiva (Angas, 1864)

Description

A slender chromodorid reaching about 39 mm in body length and 6.5 mm in width. The body is somewhat flattened and white. The mantle is bordered by a narrow golden band, inside which lie irregular rose-carmine spots. The foot is ornamented with thin longitudinal lines paler than the dorsal ground colour, the whole edged in the same rose colour. The gills and rhinophores are rose-purple, the same colour as the ground. Angas's type was 39 mm long and 6.5 mm wide, collected at the rocks called "la bouteille et le verre" ("the bottle and glass") in Vaucluse Bay, Port-Jackson.

Distribution

South-eastern Australia (Tasman Sea). Type locality: Vaucluse Bay (within Port-Jackson Harbour), New South Wales, based on a single specimen collected by Angas.

Etymology

The specific epithet festiva is the feminine of Latin festivus ("festive, gay, brightly coloured"), in reference to the species' showy colour pattern. Angas also stated his intention to dedicate the species to H. Crosse, the editor of the Journal de Conchyliologie, although he chose a generic Latin adjective rather than a patronymic.

Remarks

Originally placed by Angas in Goniodoris. Angas explicitly dedicated the species to H. Crosse, editor of the Journal de Conchyliologie who translated and annotated his manuscript. Later transferred to Mexichromis; the parentheses in the author citation reflect this generic transfer.

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References

• Goniodoris festiva Angas n. sp., Angas G.F. (1864). Description d'espèces nouvelles appartenant à plusieurs genres de Mollusques Nudibranches des environs de Port-Jackson (Nouvelle-Galles du Sud), accompagnée de dessins faits d'après nature. Journal de Conchyliologie, 12(1): 43-70, pl. IV.
• 高岡生物研究会. (2002). 日本海のウミウシ. 第2版.
• Mexichromis festiva, 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.