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| Chromodoris aff. mandapamensis in Bonomo & Gosliner, 2020. |
Abstract
This paper describes four new Chromodoris species: Chromodoris balat sp. nov., Chromodoris baqe sp. nov., Chromodoris kalawakan sp. nov., and Chromodoris quagga sp. nov. We were able to distinguish 44 species level lineages within Chromodoris, expanding the Indo-Pacific species from 39 species. The phylogeny presented here provides slightly greater resolution of species relationships than do previous studies of this genus. Layton et al. (2018), determined that variable color patterns made it difficult to differentiate in living specimens of distinct species, but we provide some additional stable color characters that potentially help resolve this issue, as well as additional internal features that are useful in species delimitation and correlate with the molecular phylogenetic analysis.
Keywords: Mollusca, systematics, Nudibranchia, sea slug, biodiversity, Indo-Pacific, Mollusca
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| Chromodoris aff. mandapamensis, CASIZ 181260, Philippines |
Family Chromodorididae Bergh 1891
Genus Chromodoris Alder & Hancock, 1855
Chromodoris balat Bonomo & Gosliner sp. nov.
Etymology. The name Chromodoris balat comes from the Filipino word for blotch or mark. Since the external
morphology has strikingly large blotches across the mantle, we wanted to connote that with the name. The word
balat in Filipino also comes with a negative connotation associated with birthmarks and means unlucky or misfortunate.
Chromodoris baqe Bonomo & Gosliner sp. nov.
Etymology. This species is named Chromodoris baqe after the Arabic word for spots, since the entire nudibranch is covered in black spots and looks similar to a cow.
Chromodoris kalawakan Bonomo & Gosliner sp. nov.
Etymology. This species is named Chromodoris kalawakan after the Filipino word for galaxy, since the coloration pattern looks like stars floating in a space cloud. The lines connecting some of the white dots appear as if astronomers were drawing the constellation patterns between the stars
Chromodoris quagga Bonomo & Gosliner sp. nov.
Etymology. The name Chromodoris quagga comes from the scientific name of the Plains zebra (Equus quagga). The striped nature of this nudibranch reminded us of the well-known striped pattern that zebras use for disruptive coloration.
Lynn J. Bonomo and Terrence M. Gosliner. 2020. Adding Stars to the Chromodoris (Nudibranchia, Chromodorididae) Galaxy with the Description of Four New Species. Zootaxa. 4819(3); 401–435. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4819.3.1
