Glossodoris andersonae Matsuda & Gosliner, 2018

Matsuda, Shayle B. & Gosliner, Terrence M., 2018, Glossing over cryptic species: Descriptions of four new species of Glossodoris and three new species of Doriprismatica (Nudibranchia: Chromodorididae), Zootaxa 4444 (5), pp. 501-529 : 511-513

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4444.5.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:6A536780-96AE-42B0-913E-C05767BC63EC
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5981632
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/07CAA0DA-EB28-4AFF-B019-2314D11C9DB9
taxon LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:act:07CAA0DA-EB28-4AFF-B019-2314D11C9DB9
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Glossodoris andersonae Matsuda & Gosliner
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Glossodoris andersonae Matsuda & Gosliner View in CoL sp. nov.

Figures (2D, 6B, 7E–I, 8C, D)

Glossodoris View in CoL sp. 1 Gosliner et al. 2015: 235, upper right photo.

Glossodoris sp. C Matsuda & Gosliner 2017.

Type material. Holotype: CASIZ-192288, one specimen, dissected, 12 mm preserved, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea, “ Abu Lad ” [Abulad Islands], coll: T.M. Gosliner, 10 Mar 2013, Red Sea Biodiversity Cruise 2013, 7 meters, orig. fixative 95% EtOH. A tissue sample from the foot was taken for molecular analyses ( Matsuda & Gosliner 2017), GenBank : KT600694 View Materials . No other specimens from this location have been collected at this time.

Etymology. Glossodoris andersonae is named after Jennifer Anderson, retired lecturer in the Environmental Studies Department at the University of California Santa Cruz, who is a longtime friend and mentor of the first author.

Distribution. Known only from the Saudi Arabian Red Sea ( Gosliner et al. 2015; present study).

External morphology. Glossodoris andersonae has an elongate oval mantle that is elevated from the sides of the body above the foot ( Fig. 6B View FIGURE 6 ). The mantle and foot are both a rust-orange color covered almost entirely with white blotches that become denser towards the outer edge, giving it a textured appearance. The mantle edge is characterized by a series of small permanent and semi-permanent undulations with a pair of large permanent folds midway on the mantle that correspond to the only location where the thick white splotching crosses over the top of the mantle. There are three marginal mantle bands; the outermost is a thin white, followed by a navy blue and then greenish-yellow that contains irregular opaque white spots ( Fig. 2D View FIGURE 2 ). These same colors similarly border the base of the foot though appear slightly less intense. The gill sits on the posterior third of the body and forms a semicircle around the anus. The approximately 19 unipinnate gill branches curve inwards at both ends into small spirals where the branches are shorter. Each branch has a single tip and shares the same color pattern as the mantle at the base, with the white spots becoming denser towards the dark blue-green tips. The rhinophores have approximately 18 lamellae and are almost entirely covered in soft white spots with a few darker spots around the base and the tips. Most notable are two dark blackish-blue circles with a diameter approximately double that of the rhinophores on the mantle directly behind each rhinophore. The genital pore is located on the right side of the body just under the mantle skirt posterior to the rhinophores.

Internal anatomy. Radula ( Figs. 7E–I View FIGURE 7 ). The radular ribbon is long and wide ( Fig. 7H View FIGURE 7 ) (12 mm preserved specimen, with a formula of 88 x 68.1.68). The rachidian tooth ( Fig. 7E View FIGURE 7 ) is approximately two-thirds the length of the adjacent lateral teeth, and each rachidian tooth ends in a narrow but blunt tip. The first lateral tooth is long, curved and narrow with nine well-defined denticles on the outer edge and five distinct denticles on the inner face. The denticles are small and do not protrude out from the main body of the tooth. The inner and mid-laterals ( Fig. 7F View FIGURE 7 ) have well defined denticles on the outer edge (~11 and ~12–14 respectively), and a well-defined peen. The outer laterals ( Fig. 7G View FIGURE 7 ) are reduced in size, have no peen, however retain their denticles, though reduced, until almost the very edge. The jaws contain densely packed unicuspid, curved rodlets ( Fig. 7I View FIGURE 7 ).

Reproductive system ( Fig. 8C, D View FIGURE 8 ). The bursa copulatrix is almost double the size of the receptaculum seminis, and the receptaculum duct itself is short. The penial bulb is long and convoluted, leading to the vas deferens and the prostate gland, which are both long and folded. The ampulla and prostate gland do not join before entering the albumen gland.

Remarks. Glossodoris andersonae shares similarities in color pattern with some members of the Glossodoris cincta clade. Rudman (1986) did not specifically mention any Red Sea specimens as belonging to the Glossodoris cincta color group. However, he did list two species documented from the Red Sea as synonyms of G. cincta : Casella foxi ( O’Donoghue 1929) and a species identified as Casella obsoleta ( Rüppell & Leuckart 1828) by Gohar & Soliman (1967). The specimen they illustrated is clearly distinct from Doris obsoleta Rüppell & Leuckart, 1928 , which has orange and black marginal bands, is currently classified as a species of Goniobranchus ( Gosliner et al. 2015) . Casella foxi , based on its radula teeth with small denticles and permanently undulating mantle margin, is most likely a Glossodori s as is the species misidentified by Gohar & Soliman. However, both of these species differ from G. andersonae , described here in having an outer yellow (yellowish green in “ Casella obsoleta ”) marginal band that is followed by a middle cobalt blue band and a second band of yellow. In G. andersonae , the outer band is white to blue, followed by a dark blue to black band and greenish yellow band with numerous opaque white spots. The colored bands that surround the mantle are distinctive, as are the dark blackish-blue spots behind the rhinophores. The white blotches covering the mantle and foot are more textured and dense than in other members of the G. cincta clade. In G. foxi and “ Casella obsoleta ” the gill branches are held erectly away from the body surface whereas they are curved inward in G. andersonae and are appressed against the mantle surface. The rachidian teeth in G. andersonae are almost two thirds the height of the adjacent laterals, have a broad base and a narrower outer portion, whereas they are much shorter and more uniformly triangular in G. foxi and “ Casella obsoleta ”. The rachidian tooth is elongate but rounded apically in G. andersonae , a trait that separates it from G. bonwanga , and G. sp. cf. cincta , which have acutely pointed apices, and G. acosti , which is blunt. Glossodoris andersonae has a much shorter vagina than G. bonwanga and G. acosti and only slightly shorter than G. sp. cf. cincta .

Molecular and morphological data support this as independent and distinct ( Matsuda & Gosliner 2017). A pdistance>9% separates G. andersonae from the other closely related species ( Matsuda & Gosliner 2017) and the ABGD analysis from this study clearly differentiates this as a distinct species ( Fig. 5 View FIGURE 5 ).