Platydoris ellioti (Alder & Hancock, 1864)

クモガタウミウシ Platydoris ellioti
Photographed by
IzumiKamei(Kaanapali) Izumi Kamei(カアナパリ)
Location
Red lighthouse inside, Kannoura, Kouchi, Japan
Date
2018/10/31
Length
80mm
Depth
8.0m
Water temperature
23.2℃

MORPHOLOGY

The body shape is flat and wide (Fig. 6C). The dorsum is covered with large caryophyllidia. The rhinophoral and branchial sheaths are elevated. The branchial sheath has six branchial lobes, with the anterior and posterior ones being larger than the others. The gill is composed of six tripinnate branchial leaves. The rhinophores have 29 lamellae. The dorsal colour is tan with small, dark blotches. The gill is brown-green, and the rhinophores are tan. Around the outer edge of the dorsum is a ring of darker green-grey pigment. The ventral side of the dorsum is yellow and has a ring of large dark spots (Figs 2D, 6D). The foot is a slightly darker shade of yellow. In the preserved specimen, the yellow has faded to a cream colour and the spots are brownish.

DISTRIBUTION

This species is known from India (Alder & Hancock 1864), Japan (Baba 1949), New Caledonia (Risbec 1928) and Papua New Guinea (present paper).
Dorgan K.M., Valdés Á. & Gosliner T.M. (2002). Phylogenetic systematics of the genus Platydoris (Mollusca, Nudibranchia, Doridoidea) with descriptions of six new species. Zoologica Scripta 31 (3): 271–319
Dorgan K.M., Valdés Á. & Gosliner T.M. (2002). Phylogenetic systematics of the genus Platydoris (Mollusca, Nudibranchia, Doridoidea) with descriptions of six new species. Zoologica Scripta 31 (3): 271–319

References