Sunday, March 3, 2024

[Mollusca • 2024] Melanochlamys droupadi • A New Species of Head-shield Sea Slug (Heterobranchia: Aglajidae) from the north-western Bay of Bengal, India

  

 Melanochlamys droupadi 
 Tudu, Sajan, Acharya & Mohapatra, 2024

 
ABSTRACT
A new species of the head-shield sea slug is described herein from an examination of the morphological and anatomical characters. A molecular analysis supported the novel status of the species. This species is named Melanochlamys droupadi n. sp. in the honour of the Hon'ble president of India, Shrimati (Mrs) Droupadi Murmu. It is the second species from the Indian region and the third true tropical species. All the specimens were collected from the Digha coast of West Bengal and the Udaipur coast of Odisha state, along the north-western Bay of Bengal.
 
KEYWORDS: Cephalaspidea, Digha coast, Indo-Pacific ,intertidal, morphology, molecular systematics



Melanochlamys droupadi n. sp. 


Prasad Chandra Tudu, Sheikh Sajan, Smrutirekha Acharya and Anil Mohapatra. 2024. A New Species of Head-shield Sea Slug, Melanochlamys droupadi (Heterobranchia: Aglajidae) from the north-western Bay of Bengal, India. Molluscan Research. DOI: 10.1080/13235818.2024.2315536