Phyllidiella cf. pustulosa (Cuvier, 1804)

Mehrotra, Rahul, A. Caballer Gutierrez, Manuel, M. Scott, Chad, Arnold, Spencer, Monchanin, Coline, Viyakarn, Voranop & Chavanich, Suchana, 2021, An updated inventory of sea slugs from Koh Tao, Thailand, with notes on their ecology and a dramatic biodiversity increase for Thai waters, ZooKeys 1042, pp. 73-188 : 73

Phyllidiella cf. pustulosa (Cuvier, 1804) Figure 15D

Material examined.

Two specimens 35-40 mm, TT; one specimen 35 mm, CB.

Ecology.

Abundant in coral reef habitats. Depth 3-30 m.

Distribution.

' Phyllidiella pustulosa ' is known from India ( Apte 2009), the Red Sea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Fiji ( Brunckhorst 1993), Hawaii ( Gosliner et al. 2008), both Andaman and Gulf waters of Thailand ( Brunckhorst 1993; Chavanich et al. 2013), and an externally different morphotype referred to as ' Phyllidiella cf. pustulosa ' is known from Mozambique ( Tibiriçá et al. 2017).

Remarks.

Morphological and molecular work ( Chang and Willan 2015; Stoffels et al. 2016) has indicated that P. pustulosa is composed of a number of cryptic species. Specimens recorded from Koh Tao externally look similar to those illustrated in Brunckhorst (1993: pl. 5E, F) and Stoffels et al. (2016: figs 11I, J, 12F, 13B) but dissimilar from specimens in Mozambique ( Tibiriçá et al. 2017: figs 20C, D).

Figures

Figure 15. A Phyllidia picta specimens 28 mm B Phyllidia varicosa 55 mm (photograph by Pau Urgell Plaza) C Phyllidiella nigra 50 mm D Phyllidiella cf. pustulosa 35 mm E Phyllidiopsis loricata 28 mm F Gymnodoris cf. alba 25 mm (photograph by Tine Kvamme) G Gymnodoris ceylonica 35 mm H Gymnodoris impudica 60 mm I Gymnodoris inornata 28 mm (photograph by Pau Urgell Plaza) J Gymnodoris sp. 1 25 mm (photograph by Pim Bontenbal) K, L Gymnodoris sp. 2 14 mm, same specimen feeding on Dendrodoris elongata.