Hypselodoris sp.

Nithyanandan, Manickam, Al-Kandari, Manal & Mantha, Gopikrishna, 2021, New records of nudibranchs and a cephalaspid from Kuwait, northwestern Arabian Gulf (Mollusca, Heterobranchia), ZooKeys 1048, pp. 91-107 : 91

Hypselodoris sp.

Figure 7

Photographic record.

SAASC, Al-Khiran, 23 March 2013, one individual on an unidentified sponge photographed at 3.5 m depth, R. Dinesh Kumar.

Description.

The individual photographed has a bluish grey body with yellow and black spots. The margin of the mantle is thin; yellow and black spots extend onto the foot. A prominent row of black blotches is present on the either side of the dorsum. Rhinophores are tipped red-orange, with a translucent white base (Fig. 7 ). Gills are orange-red at the tips and the midribs are interrupted with white bands. A circular row of blue spots extends onto the base of the slightly elevated gill pocket.

Distribution.

Kuwait (this study).

Remarks.

The individual in this study has similarities in colour pattern with two recently described species, H. confetti (Johnson & Gosliner in Epstein et al. 2018) and H. roo . In H. confetti , the gills have purple lines and red-orange tips and in H. roo the gills are bright orange-red at tips with two red lines on the exterior side and one on the interior. However, the individual in this study has gills with orange-red midribs and tips (Fig. 7 ). The bases of the rhinophores are purple in H. confetti and red in H. roo with a prominent opaque white spot on the posterior side ( Epstein et al. 2018), which is clearly absent in the individual recorded in this study as it only has orange-red tipped rhinophores with white bases (Fig. 7 ). In H. roo , the posterior portion of the notum has a tapering shape, which was also observed in this individual (Fig. 7 ). A new record to Kuwait and the APG.

Figures

Figure 7. Hypselodoris sp. on an unidentified sponge. Photograph R. Dinesh Kumar.