Phyllidiopsis xishaensis (Lin, 1983)

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 : 62-63

Phyllidiopsis xishaensis (Lin, 1983) Fig. 29, Plate 79

Phyllidia xishaensis Lin, 1983: 153, pl. 1 fig. 2 (China); Yonow et al. 2002: 870, fig. 19c (Chagos).

Phyllidiopsis striata . - Brunckhorst 1993: 69, fig. 29H, pl. 8D, E (W Australia, SW Thailand + W Pacific); Apte 2009: 172, fig. 3b (Laccadive Islands) (non Phyllidiopsis striata Bergh).

Material.

Maldives: 21 × 8 mm (NY-34, "translucent white, tiny oral tentacles ochre like rhinophores"), Maaya Tila, Ari Atoll, 15 m depth, 14 May 1990, leg. N Yonow; 15 mm (SH-12, "yellow rhinophores make him different"), Boamandhifurihurai, Lhaviyani Atoll, 6 m depth, 05 March 1991, leg. S Harwood; 12 × 5 mm pres. ("with dots around edge"), Hans Place, south end of North Malé Atoll, 9 m depth, 11 October 1994, leg. SG Buttress & RC Anderson; photographs of five individuals, one measuring 15 mm, March 1997, March 1998, March 1999, J Hinterkircher. - Mauritius, La Réunion, and Mayotte: numerous individuals photographed, 6-19 mm alive (http://seaslugs.free.fr/nudibranche/a_intro.htm). - Seychelles: photos of two individuals, Lilôt, NW Mahé, 1988-1989, P Kemp.

Remarks.

The resurrection of this species and the rationale behind this were described in Yonow et al. (2002). These specimens from the western Indian Ocean clearly conform to the original (and subsequent) illustrations of the species (erroneously identified as Phyllidiopsis striata in the literature and on many websites) and further illustrations are provided here of the anterior dorsum (Fig. 29A) and head/oral tentacles (Fig. 29B). It has an isolated distribution in the western Indian Ocean, from the Laccadive and Maldive islands south to Chagos and west to Mauritius, La Réunion, and Mayotte; there are no specimen records from East or South Africa.