Thorunna kahuna R. F. Johnson & Gosliner, 2001

Description

A small chromodorid up to about 15 mm in length. The body is pale purple, with a thin purple line running just inside the outer edge of the mantle margin. The rhinophores and gill plume are both red. The species superficially resembles its congener Thorunna daniellae, but is distinguished by its purplish body colour and by the colour pattern of the rhinophores and gills.

Distribution

Central to western Pacific. Originally described from Hawaiian material; recorded from Midway Atoll, the Hawaiian Islands, and Japan.

Etymology

The specific epithet kahuna is a Hawaiian word meaning "priest" or "expert", chosen in reference to the species' Hawaiian type locality.

---

References

• Thorunna kahuna n. sp., Johnson R.F. & Gosliner T.M. (2001). Two new species of Thorunna Bergh, 1878 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia: Chromodorididae) from the Indo-Pacific. Bollettino Malacologico. 37(5-8): 143-150.
• Thorunna kahuna, 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.