Phyllidiella cf. pustulosa ( Cuvier, 1804 )

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 : 61

Phyllidiella cf. pustulosa ( Cuvier, 1804)

( Figures 20 C–D )

Material examined. Five specimens. ZMBN117079, NKA, 13 Jun. 2014, 20m, 24mm; MB28-004913, NKA, 13 Jun. 2014, 21m, 22mm; MHN-YT1364, NKA, 15 Jun. 2014, 19m, 22mm; ZMBN117084, NKA, 15 Jun. 2014, 18m, 25mm; ZMBN119690, NKA, 15 Jun. 2014 m 19m, 13mm.

Habitats. coral reefs.

Occurrences. Nacala and Nuarro.

Geographic distribution. Indo-west, central Pacific. Phyllidiella pustulosa ( Cuvier, 1804) is widely spread in the Indo-Pacific ( Brunckhorst 1993). It has been recorded from Hawaii, Society Island to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean (Gosliner et al. 2008).

Remarks. This morphotype resembles the photograph of Phyllidiella pustulosa in Brunckhorst (1993, second specimen on the left, Plate 5, fig. E) . Brunckhorst (1993) stated that ontogenetic variation introduced much confusion in the literature. As a result, there are currently eight synonyms for this species ( Rosenberg & Bouchet 2012). However, recent molecular studies showed that P. pustulosa is likely to be a species complex with up to four molecular operational taxonomic units ( Stoffels et al. 2016). Therefore, this putative species complex and its geographic distribution needs further investigation.

Figures

FIGURE 20. A–B, Phyllidiella meandrina (ZMBN105095) dorsal and ventral view. C–D, Phyllidiella pustulosa (ZMBN117079) dorsal and ventral view. E–F, Phyllidiella rosans (ZMBN117065). G–H, Phyllidiella striata (ZMBN117076) dorsal and ventral view. I–J, Phyllidiella zeylanica (ZMBN117027) dorsal and ventral view. K–L, Phyllidiopsis cardinalis (ZMBN117066) dorsal and ventral view.