Hypselodoris kanga Rudman, 1977

Tibiriçá, Yara, Pola, Marta & Cervera, Juan Lucas, 2017, Astonishing diversity revealed: an annotated and illustrated inventory of Nudipleura (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) from Mozambique, Zootaxa 4359 (1), pp. 1-133 : 34

Hypselodoris kanga Rudman, 1977

( Figure 10 E )

Material examined. Five specimens. MHN-YT01, ZSC, 29 Jan. 2011, 18 m, 23mm; MB28-004 423, ZGWS, 0 4 Jun. 2011, 21 mm; MB28-004536, ZSC, 14 May 2012, 22m, 30mm, collected by S. Bruck; MB28-004621, ZWH, 30 Aug. 2012, 18 m, 12mm; MB28-004672, ZSC, 13 May 2013, 22m, 17mm.

Habitats. Subtropical rocky reefs.

Occourrences. Ponta do Ouro and Zavora.

Geographic distribution. Indian Ocean. Thailand, India, Pakistan (Gosliner et al. 2008), Oman ( Debelius 1996), Tanzania ( Rudman, 1977) and Mozambique.

Remarks. The specimens examined here were similar to the type material from Tanzania ( Rudman 1977). The gill colouration matches the description provided by Rudman (1977). Gosliner et al. (2015) suggest that the distribution of this species is restricted to the Indian Ocean, nevertheless there are on-line records from species of similar appearance identified as H. kanga from the Pacific Ocean (e.g. Kodiat 2005 and Zylberman 2007), which is externally more similar to Hypselodoris sp. 7 in Gosliner et al. 2015. Thus, further studies are needed to better understand the geographic distribution of this species and identity of the Pacific morphotype.

Figures

FIGURE 10. A, Hypselodoris fucata (MB28-004792). B, Hypselodoris ghardaqana (MB28-004944). C–D, Hypselodoris infucata (MB28-004470 and MB28-005084). E, Hypselodoris kanga (MB28-004536). F–I, Hypselodoris maculosa (MB28- 004714, MB28-005022, MHN-YT1054 and MB28-004902, respectively). J, Hypselodoris maridadilus (MB28-004860). K, Hypselodoris nigrolineata (MB28-005007).L, Hypselodoris nigrostriata (MB28-005085).