Gymnodoris bernardae De Souza-Canal & Valdés, 2025

Souza-Canal, Jade De & Valdés, Ángel, 2025, The genus Gymnodoris Stimpson, 1855 (Mollusca, Nudibranchia) in New Caledonia, with descriptions of eleven new species, Zootaxa 5710 (1), pp. 1-73 : 67

Gymnodoris bernardae De Souza-Canal & Valdés sp. nov.

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( Fig. 18K , 20C–D , 21A )

Type material. Holotype: New Caledonia: North Province: Koumac ( 20°36.7'S, 164°09.1'E), 10 m depth [Koumac 2.3 Expedition, stn. KR1057], 18 Nov 2019, 1 specimen 4 mm preserved length (MNHN-IM-2019-26511, isolate JD54).

Description. Body narrow, elongate, smooth, with numerous small, conical tubercles. Velum distinct, narrow, forming an anterior protuberance with 4 small tubercles; notal rim absent, velum fuses with dorsum behind rhinophores ( Figs. 18K ). Color translucent dirty-white, with network of opaque white pigment, tubercles yellow-orange; posterior end of foot translucent with same color pattern. Internal organs not visible through body wall. Rhinophores bulbous, with 9 lamellae, opaque white. Gill with 9 small, bipinnate, translucent leaves, arranged in row anterior to anus. Foot narrower than notum, opaque white. Oral tentacles absent.

Radular formula 6 × 9.0. 9 in the 4 mm preserved length holotype (MNHN-IM-2019-26511). All radular teeth similar in size, with broad bases, elongate slightly curved, blunt cusps ( Fig. 21A ).

Reproductive system with a short, broad ampulla, connecting to female gland complex, prostate ( Fig. 20C ). Prostate large, tubular, curved around bursa copulatrix, narrowing into a slightly convoluted deferent duct, opening into a common atrium with vagina. Vagina long, narrow, connecting into bursa copulatrix near seminal receptacle connection. Bursa copulatrix spherical, about three times as large as ovoid seminal receptacle. Penial spines triangular to elongate (about 20–80 µm long), with narrow bases ( Fig. 20D ).

Phylogenetic position. Gymnodoris bernardae sp. nov. is the most basal member of a clade (PP: 1, MLB: 93) also including Gymnodoris feyae sp. nov., Gymnodoris sp. 60, and Gymnodoris striata (PP: 1, MLB: 100). The position of this clade in the overall phylogeny of Gymnodoris is unresolved ( Fig. 1A ).

Etymology. This species is name in honor of Carole Bernard, who led the educational and outreach programs during the Koumac expeditions, to stress the importance of sharing the value of biodiversity with local and broader communities.

Remarks. Gymnodoris bernardae sp. nov. is externally very different from other species in its clade, including Gymnodoris feyae sp. nov., Gymnodoris sp. 60, and Gymnodoris striata , all of which have longitudinal ridges. No other species illustrated by Yonow (2008), Gosliner et al. (2018), Nakano (2018) or Knutson & Gosliner (2022) resemble this species.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A. Bayesian consensus phylogenetic tree of the concatenated dataset including PP above branches and MLB below branches. Branches fully supported (PP: 1, MLB: 100) marked with asterisks. New species described in this paper highlighted in red font and illustrated; other species reported from New Caledonia in this study highlighted in blue font. Clades are collapsed according to the results of the ASAP and bPTP species delimitation analyses. B. Histogram representing the distance plot from the ASAP analysis using the COI gene showing pairwise p-distances (Kimura 2 model) among candidate species. The dashed line represents the distance threshold provided by the lowest ASAP score for species delimitation.

FIGURE 18. Gymnodoris bricei sp. nov., Gymnodoris wanaporum sp. nov., G. fassioae sp. nov., Gymnodoris feyae sp. nov., Gymnodoris bernardae sp. nov., and Gymnodoris sp., photographs of live animals showing color variation. A. G. bricei sp. nov., holotype, St. Vincent Bay, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26451, isolate JD149), photo Y.Thévenet. B. G. wanaporum sp. nov., paratype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26413, isolate JD26). C. G. wanaporum sp. nov., holotype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26412, isolate JD52). D. G. fassioae sp. nov., holotype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26502, isolate JD24). E. G. feyae sp. nov., paratype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26384, isolate JD29). F. G. feyae sp. nov., paratype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26383, isolate JD13). G. G. feyae sp. nov., paratype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26385, isolate JD46). H. G. feyae sp. nov., paratype, Nouméa, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26388, isolate JD89). I. G. feyae sp. nov., holotype, Nouméa, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM- 2019-26386, isolate JD87). J. G. feyae sp. nov., paratype, Nouméa, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26387, isolate JD88). K. G. bernardae sp. nov., holotype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26511, isolate JD54). L. G. boiteuxi sp. nov., holotype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26469, isolate JD69).

FIGURE 20. Gymnodoris feyae sp. nov., Gymnodoris bernardae sp. nov., and Gymnodoris boiteuxi sp. nov., drawings of reproductive systems. A–B. G. feyae sp. nov, paratype, Nouméa, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26388, isolate JD89), general view of reproductive organs (A), penial spines (B). C–D. G. bernardae sp. nov., holotype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN- IM-2019-26511, isolate JD54), general view of reproductive organs (C), penial spines (D). E–F. G. boiteuxi sp. nov., holotype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26469, isolate JD69), general view of reproductive organs (E), penial spines (F).

FIGURE 21. Gymnodoris bernardae sp. nov., and Gymnodoris boiteuxi sp. nov., scanning electron micrographs of the radulae. A. G. bernardae sp. nov., holotype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26511, isolate JD54), half-row. B. G. boiteuxi sp. nov., holotype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26469, isolate JD69), half-row.