Phyllidia coelestis Bergh, 1905

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 : 57-58

Phyllidia coelestis Bergh, 1905

( Figure 19 D–E )

Material examined. Eleven specimens. MB28-004781, VIPP, 13 Dec. 2013, 8m, 36mm; MHN-YT1317, NHR, 0 5 Jun. 2016, 7m, 28mm; MB28-004896, NKA, 0 9 Jun. 2014, 10m, 39mm; ZMBN117080, 13 Jun. 2014, NKA, 13m, 69mm; ZMBN117081 & ZMBN119689, NKA, 15 Jun. 2014, 20m, 25mm and 13mm, respectively; ZMBN105089, VIPP, 15 May 2015, 10– 20m, 30mm, collected by Y. Tibiriçá & M. Malaquias; ZMBN105131 and ZMBN105149, VIPP, 19 May 2015, 7m, 38mm and 12 mm, 20 and 27mm, respectively, collected by Y. Tibiriçá & M. Malaquias; ZMBN105578, 2 spcs. VICW, 24 May 2015, 6– 12m, collected by Y. Tibiriçá & M. Malaquias.

Habitats. Tropical coral reefs.

Occurrences. Nacala, Nuarro, Pemba and Vamizi Island .

Geographic distribution. Indo-west Pacific. Japan, Papua New Guinea (Gosliner et al. 2008), China Sea, Timor Sea ( Brunckhorst 1993), Philippines (Gosliner et al. 2008), Indonesia ( Yonow 2011), Thailand ( Mehrotra & Scott 2015), India ( Apte 2009, Remakrishna et al. 2010), British Indian Ocean Territory ( Yonow et al. 2002), Sri Lanka, Comoros Islands, Réunion Island (Gosliner et al. 2008), Tanzania (Edmunds 1972), South Africa ( Brunckhorst 1993) and Mozambique ( Macnae & Kalk 1958).

Remarks. This species shows a colour variation mainly confined to the thickness of the black bands. The distribution of the tubercles, ground colouration, number of lamellae in the rhinophores and the tubercles are very similar to Eliot’s (1905) illustration and Brunckhorst’s (1993) description. However, none of the specimens examined here had the typical black “Y” mark in front of the rhinophores (Gosliner et al. 2015). Instead, the lateral black bands run parallel to each rhinophore and the black midline forms a discontinued line. This pattern is similar to the photograph of P. coelestis in Yonow (2012) . An examination of the photographs of this species from the Indian Ocean reveals that this might be the colour pattern for this species in the region. Nevertheless, further molecular analyses may prove otherwise.

Figures

FIGURE 19. A, Sclerodoris tuberculata (MB28-005086). B–C, Phyllidia alyta (MB28-004883) dorsal and ventral view.D–E, Phyllidia coelestis (MB28-004781 and MB28-004896, respectively). F–G Phyllidia cf. haegeli (ZMBN117018) dorsal and ventral view. H–I, Phyllidia marindica (MB28-004780) dorsal and ventral view. J, Phyllidia ocellata (MB28-005092). K–L, Phyllidia varicosa (MB28-004450) dorsal and ventral view.