Godiva quadricolor

Godiva quadricolor
The nudibranch Godiva quadricolor, 40 mm long, Algoa Bay, South Africa, 18-20 m.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Nudibranchia
Suborder:	Cladobranchia
Family:	Myrrhinidae
Genus:	Godiva
Species:	G. quadricolor
Binomial name
Godiva quadricolor (Barnard, 1927)[1]
Synonyms
Hervia quadricolor Barnard, 1927 (original combination)

Godiva quadricolor is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.[2]

Distribution

This species was described from St. James, False Bay, South Africa. It occurs on the South African coast from the Cape Peninsula to East London, intertidally to 20 m.[3] It has also been reported from the Mediterranean, off western Australia and West Africa.

Description

Godiva quadricolor is a slender pale-bodied nudibranch with many cerata striped in bands of blue, yellow and orange. Its head is orange with rugose orange rhinophores and has a pair of orange oral tentacles with a white central stripe.[4][5] Specimens from Western Australia differ significantly in colour and may represent another species.[6]

Godiva cf. quadricolor laying eggs, Swan River, Western Australia.

Ecology

Godiva quadricolor preys on hydroids and on other nudibranchs. Its egg ribbon is a globular mass of white zigzags.

References

1. Barnard, K.H. (1927) South African nudibranch mollusca, with descriptions of new species, and a note on some specimens from Tristan d'Acunha. Annals of the South African Museum, 25(1): 171-215, Pls 19, 20.
2. Rosenberg, G. (2012). Godiva quadricolor. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2012-06-05
3. Gosliner, T.M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8
4. Rudman, W.B., 1999 (Jul 21). Godiva quadricolor. [in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
5. Branch, G.M. et al. (2002). Two Oceans. 5th impression. David Philip, Cate Town & Johannesburg.
6. Willan, R.C. (1987) Phylogenetic systematics and zoogeography of Australian nudibranchs. 1. Presence of the aeolid Godiva quadricolor (Barnard) in Western Australia. Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia, 8: 71-85.

External links

• Media related to Godiva quadricolor at Wikimedia Commons