Phestilla fuscostriata J.T. Hu, Y.J. Zhang, J. Y. Xie & J.W. Xiu, 2020

MORPHOLOGY

Shallow water, 1–4 m water depth, on the surface of P. decussata colonies.
Living specimens 2 mm to 8 mm in length. Body excluding cerata elongate, dorsal-ventrally flattened. General body colour white with dense brown pigmentation on dorsal side of head, tentacles, body and cerata. Ethanol preserved specimens white due to loss of brown pigmentation.

DISTRIBUTION

This species is
currently known from eastern Hong Kong waters
including the type locality Sharp Island (this study) and
Chek Chau (Wong et al. 2017) in Hong Kong. Given
the wide distribution of its host coral P. decussata in the
Indo-Pacific region (Veron 2000) including Hong Kong
(Xie et al. 2017 2020), we expect this species to have a
wider distribution, especially along the northern coasts
of the South China Sea.

ETYMOLOGY

The species epithet fuscostriata, from the Latin fuscus (brown) and striatus (streaky), refers to the brown stripes on the body, which is a morphological character of the new species.

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References

• Phestilla fuscostriata sp. nov., Hu J.T., Zhang Y.J., Xie J.Y. & Qiu J.W. (2020). A new species of predatory nudibranch (Gastropoda: Trinchesiidae) of the coral Pavona decussata. Zoological Studies. 59: 30 [pp. 1-11]., available online at https://doi.org/10.6620/ZS.2020.59-30