Tambja eliora (Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967)

Description

A medium-sized polycerid reaching about 43 mm in length. Body elongate and limaciform; ground colour olive-green ('鶯色'). Body surface marked throughout with bright-blue longitudinal lines, each finely edged by black; the lines are often broken into a series of blue spots arranged in longitudinal rows. Eye region distinctly darker. Rhinophores dark green with blue longitudinal lines. Gills dark green with the leaf margin lined in blue.

Distribution

Eastern Pacific: known from Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands.

Etymology

The specific epithet 'eliora' is a name in apposition based on a Hebrew personal name; the original description (Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967) does not give an explicit etymology.

Remarks

Originally described in 1967 by Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus in another genus and subsequently transferred to Tambja. Forms part of the eastern Pacific Tambja fauna together with T. abdere Farmer, 1978; the two species are sometimes sympatric. Pola, Cervera & Gosliner 2008 cited the species in the context of the revised Nembrothinae.

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References

• Tambja eliora, Pola M., Cervera J.L. & Gosliner T.M. (2008). Revision of the Indo-Pacific genus Nembrotha (Nudibranchia: Dorididae: Polyceridae), with a description of two new species. Scientia Marina. 72(1): 145-183. https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2008.72n1145
• Tambja eliora, Behrens D.W., Hermosillo A., Fletcher K. & Jensen G.C. (2022). Nudibranchs & Sea Slugs of the Eastern Pacific. Molamarine.