Hexabranchus sandwichensis Gray, 1850

Tibiriçá, Yara, Pola, Marta, Pittman, Cory, Gosliner, Terrence M., Malaquias, Manuel A. & Cervera, Juan Lucas, 2023, A Spanish dancer? No! A troupe of dancers: a review of the family Hexabranchidae Bergh, 1891 (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia, Nudibranchia), Organisms Diversity & Evolution (New York, N. Y.) 23 (4), pp. 697-742 : 729

Hexabranchus sandwichensis Gray, 1850 (Fig. 26F)

Description notes No description, only figure. Latter Eyodoux and Soulet (1852) provided external morphology: size 140 mm; smooth notum bluish-white trending to purple in the central region and marked by irregular purple spots; whitish band surrounding the foot underneath the mantle; mantle expanded around the body; foot yellowish (Fig. 26G). Own conclusion/opinion on its taxonomic status In WoRMS (MolluscaBase eds., 2023c), Russel (1971), and Valdés (2002), H. sandwichensis appears as authored by Gray, 1850. In contradiction, Edmunds (1971) and McDonald (2021) suggested Eydoux and Souleyet (1852) as the correct authors. The nomenclatural history dealing with “Gray, 1850” is confusing and often ignored (see Valdés & Fahey, 2006). Gray’s (1850) work is a compilation of illustrations made by Maria Emma Smith (M. E.) Gray for her husband’s (John Edward Gray) personal use. Mrs. M. E. Gray traced hundreds of mollusk figures from several authors. Regretfully, it appears that in a few cases the drawings were introduced prior to the original drawing creating some problems (Valdés & Fahey, 2006) as under Art. 12.2.7 these names should be considered available. In the case of H. sandwichensis , it is possible that this species was first introduced by Gray’s illustration in 1850 and later described by Eydoux and Souleyet in 1852. Conversely, Adams (1848), when he described H. burnettii , compared this species with “ Doris sandwichiensis ” in “Voyage de la Bonite,” an expedition that took place between 1836 and 1837. Sherborn (1901) cites that the correct dates of the plates from such publication are unknown and tentatively refer to 1846–1849. Therefore, it would be possible that Eydoux and Souleyet published the illustration prior to Gray (1850) but regrettably the dates are unconfirmed and the name “ Doris sandwichienne ” was written in French and not latinize. Thus, based on our results and review Hexabranchus sandwichensis Gray, 1850 is a valid species.