Goniobranchus verrieri (Crosse, 1875)

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 : 31-32

Goniobranchus verrieri (Crosse, 1875)

( Figures 7 G , 8 A–D )

Material examined. Two specimens. MB28-004596, ZJS, 23 Jun. 2012, 8m, 8mm; MB28-004657, ZWH, 17 Mar. 2013, 19m, 15mm.

Habitats. Subtropical rocky reefs.

Occurrences. Zavora.

Geographic distribution. Indo-west, central Pacific. Hawaii, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia (Gosliner et al. 2008), Marshal Islands, New Caledonia, Tanzania ( Rudman 1985), South Africa, Madagascar (Gosliner et al. 2008) and Mozambique.

Remarks. This species is externally similar to Verconia subnivalis Baba, 1987 from Japan. Thus, the confirmation of its identity was done through examination of the radula in optical microscope. The radula formula of the specimen MB28-004657 was 40X 34.0.34 (+2). The radula matches the description of Goniobranchus verrieri provided by Rudman (1985) and it clearly differs from Verconia subnivalis by a distinctive central tickeness, which is absent in V. subnivalis ( Baba 1987a) .

Figures

FIGURE 7. A, Goniobranchus kitae (MB28-004868). B, Goniobranchus lekker (MB28-004435). C, Goniobranchus pruna (MB28-004571). D, Goniobranchus tennentanus (MB28-004664). E–F Goniobranchus cf. tinctorius (MB28-004870 and MB28-004872, respectively). G, Goniobranchus verrieri (MB28-004657). H, Hypselodoris bullockii (MB28-004828). I–J, Hypselodoris carnea (MHN-YT358, MB28-004477, ZMBN117032 and MHN-YT471, respectively). K, Hypselodoris emma (MB28-004548).L, Hypselodoris fucata (MB28-004791).

FIGURE 8. Goniobranchus verrieri (MB28-004657), radula from optical microscope.A, central region (magnification 40X). B,outermost teeth of anteriorregion (magnification 100X). C, innermost teeth of central region (magnification 100X).D, bifid jaw rodlets (magnification 100X).