Hypselodoris violacea

Hypselodoris violacea
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Nudibranchia
Family:	Chromodorididae
Genus:	Hypselodoris
Species:	H. violacea
Binomial name
Hypselodoris violacea Gosliner & Johnson, 2018[1]

Hypselodoris violacea is a species of sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.[2]

Distribution

The holotype of this nudibranch was collected at 10 m depth from Magic Reef, Busuanga Island, Palawan, Philippines, 11.99°N 120.08°E / 11.99; 120.08. It is known only from Palawan, Philippines and northern Borneo, Malaysia.[3][1]

Description

Hypselodoris violacea has a deep, dark purple body with a broad solid white border to the mantle. The bulb of the rhinophores is deep purple, with sheaths of the same colour. The gills are also entirely deep purple. There is a tall gill pocket which is also deep purple in colour. This is a large nudibranch, reaching 50 mm in length.[1] This species has been reported as Hypselodoris bullocki.[4][1][5]

References

1. Epstein, H. E.; Hallas, J. M.; Johnson, R. F.; Lopez, A.; Gosliner, T. M. (2018). Reading between the lines: revealing cryptic species diversity and colour patterns in Hypselodoris nudibranchs (Mollusca: Heterobranchia: Chromodorididae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 2018, XX, 1–74. With 40 figures.
2. MolluscaBase (2018). Hypselodoris violacea Gosliner & Johnson, 2018. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2018-10-22.
3. Lau, A, 2005 (Dec 14) Hypselodoris bullockii? from Malaysia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
4. Gosliner, T.M., Behrens, D.W. & Valdés, Á., 2018. Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification - Indo-Pacific. New World Publications; 2nd Revised, Updated edition. 452 pp. ISBN 1878348671, ISBN 978-1878348678, p. 195
5. Rudman W. B., 1999.Hypselodoris bullocki (Collingwood, 1881) - Page 1. In: Sea slug forum. Sydney: Australian Museum.