Risbecia pulchella ( Rueppell & Leuckart, 1830)

Yonow, Nathalie, 2012, Opisthobranchs from the western Indian Ocean, with descriptions of two new species and ten new records (Mollusca, Gastropoda), ZooKeys 197, pp. 1-130 : 38-39

Risbecia pulchella ( Rueppell & Leuckart, 1830) Fig. 13Plate 54

Doris pulchella Rüppell & Leuckart, 1830: 32, tab. 9, fig. 5 (Red Sea).

Risbecia pulchella . - Rudman, 1984: 203, fig. 65, 67, 68 (Kenya, Tanzania, and Mayotte, Comoro Islands); Gosliner 1987: 83, fig. 132 (South Africa); Yonow 1989: 303, pl. 23-25 (Red Sea); Debelius and Kuiter 2007: 138 (Red Sea, Mozambique, and South Africa); Yonow 2008: 201 (Red Sea); Yogesh Kumar et al. 2011: 109, fig. 2e (India).

Material.

Seychelles: 50 × 25 mm, one of two animals on algal-encrusted rock, Bug Rock, Brissare, 05 April 1992, leg. P Kemp; photographs of several individuals, Lilôt, NW Mahé, 1988-1989, P Kemp. - Gulf of Oman: photos of two individuals trailing, Muscat, 01-12 April 2009, S Kahlbrock; photographs of pairs, Musandam, 13 May 2009, trailing pair, Siri Island, 15 m depth, 13 May 2009, trailing pair, Anemone Garden, just off Khorfakkan, 8 Jan 2012, GT Smith. - La Réunion, Mauritius, Mayotte: photographs of several individuals http://seaslugs.free.fr/nudibranche/a_intro.htm.

Description.

The radular formula is 83 (+3) × 90-95.0.95-90: there is no median tooth. The first 7-8 laterals are duck bill shaped with a large denticle on the outside (Fig. 13A). The central laterals increase rapidly in size to a cusp length of approximately 75 μm bearing 4-5 denticles, of which the first is divided (Fig. 13B). The last 3 -4 laterals in each row are very reduced with a rounded main cusp and multiple denticles (Fig. 13C).