Miamira alleni (Gosliner, 1996)

Description

Dorsum bears very large fleshy outgrowths, interpreted as soft-coral (octocoral) mimicry. Ground color is mainly green, with white to pale-yellow markings and edges that resemble octocoral polyps. Originally described in Ceratosoma, the species was later transferred to Miamira.

Distribution

Tropical western Pacific, centred on Indonesia and the Philippines.

Etymology

Named in honour of Dr Gerald R. Allen, an ichthyologist and coral-reef biodiversity researcher associated with the Western Australian Museum.

Remarks

Family Chromodorididae, genus Miamira.

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References

• Ceratosoma alleni sp. nov., Gosliner T.M. (1996). Phylogeny of Ceratosoma (Nudibranchia: Chromodorididae), with descriptions of two new species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 49(3): 115-126.
• Miamira alleni, 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.
• Miamira alleni, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
• アレンウミウシ（新称）, 中野理枝. (2018). 日本のウミウシ. 文一総合出版.