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| [a–d] Goniobranchus fabulus Soong, Bonomo, Reimer & Gosliner, 2022 Goniobranchus sinensis |
Abstract
Species identities of Goniobranchus nudibranchs with white bodies and various marginal bands have long been problematic. In this study, specimens of these Goniobranchus nudibranchs from the Philippines, Peninsular Malaysia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, and Madagascar were analyzed and molecular data were obtained in order to re-examine the relationships between species within this “white Goniobranchus with marginal bands” group. The analyses clearly recovered six species groups corresponding to the described species Goniobranchus albonares, G. preciosus, G. rubrocornutus, G. sinensis, and G. verrieri as well as one new species, G. fabulus Soong & Gosliner, sp. nov. Notably, G. preciosus, G. sinensis, G. rubrocornutus, G. verrieri, and G. fabulus Soong & Gosliner, sp. nov. exhibit color variation and polymorphism, suggesting that some aspects of color patterns (e.g., presence or absence of dorsal spots) may not always be useful in the identification of species in the “white Goniobranchus with marginal bands” group, whereas other features such as gill and rhinophore colors and the arrangement and colors of the mantle marginal bands are more diagnostic for each species.
Keywords: Biodiversity, coral reefs, mtDNA, species delimitation, taxonomy
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| a, b Goniobranchus albonares a CASIZ 191440, Papua New Guinea b CASIZ 228939, Philippines c–f Goniobranchus preciosus c CASIZ 208415, Morphotype A, Philippines d CASIZ 208574, Morphotype B, Philippines e CASIZ 176752, Morphotype C, Peninsular Malaysia f CASIZ 176761, Morphotype D, Peninsular Malaysia g, h Goniobranchus rubrocornutus g CASIZ 203047, Morphotype A, Philippines h CASIZ 208563, Morphotype B, Philippines. Photographs Terrence M. Gosliner. Scale bars: 1 cm. |
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| a–d Goniobranchus sinensis a CASIZ 176759, morphotype A, Peninsular Malaysia b MISE-018-19, morphotype B, Okinawa, Japan c MISE-55-19, morphotype B, Okinawa, Japan d MISE-039-19, morphotype C, Kagoshima, Japan e, f Goniobranchus verrieri e CASIZ 203059, morphotype A, Philippines f CASIZ 208442, morphotype B, Philippines. Photographs a, e, f Terrence M. Gosliner; b–d Giun Yee Soong. Scale bars: 1 cm. |
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| Goniobranchus fabulus sp. nov. a CASIZ 177517, morphotype A, Philippines b CASIZ 177685, morphotype A, Philippines c CASIZ 201949, morphotype A, Philippines d CASIZ 191118, morphotype B, Papua New Guinea. Photographs Terrence M. Gosliner. Scale bars: 1 cm. |
Giun Yee Soong, Lynn J. Bonomo, James D. Reimer and Terrence M. Gosliner. 2022. Battle of the Bands: Systematics and Phylogeny of the white Goniobranchus nudibranchs with marginal bands (Nudibranchia, Chromodorididae). ZooKeys. 1083: 169-210. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1083.72939
