Gymnodoris feyae 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 : 65-67

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

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

( Fig. 18E–J , 19F–G , 20A–B )

Analogium sp. — Hervé, 2010: 169.

Type material. Holotype: New Caledonia: South Province: Nouméa, Rocher à la Voile ( 22°18.18'S, 166°26'E), 2– 10 m depth [ Quinzaine des Nudibranches Expedition , stn. QNPF-AA, sandy-muddy], 3 Sep 2022, 13 mm preserved length (MNHN-IM-2019-26386, isolate JD87) . Paratypes: New Caledonia: North Province: Koumac, Récif de l'Infernet ( 20°37.1'S, 164°15'E), 3 m depth [ Koumac 2.1 Expedition, stn. KR208], 7 Sep 2018, 1 specimen 9 mm preserved length (MNHN-IM-2019-26384, isolate JD29) . New Caledonia: North Province: Koumac , NW Infernet (exterior) ( 20°35.5'S, 164°12.9'E), 10 m depth [ Koumac 2.1 Expedition, stn. KR619, sandy-muddy, algal patches], 19 Sep 2018, 1 specimen 11 mm preserved length (MNHN-IM-2019-26385, isolate JD46) . New Caledonia: North Province: Koumac ( 20°35.2'S, 164°16.3'E), 7 m depth [ Koumac 2.3 Expedition, stn. KR878], 5 Nov 2019, 1 specimen 8 mm preserved length (MNHN-IM-2019-26383, isolate JD13) . New Caledonia: South Province: Nouméa, Rocher à la Voile ( 22°18.18'S, 166°26'E), 2–10 m depth [Quinzaine des Nudibranches Expedition, stn. QNPF-AA, sandy-muddy], 3 Sep 2022, 1 specimen 14 mm preserved length (MNHN-IM-2019-26387, isolate JD88); 1 specimen 12 mm preserved length (MNHN-IM-2019-26388, isolate JD89) .

Description. Body oval, with numerous longitudinal ridges, with some irregular tubercles on ridges. Velum distinct with some irregular tubercles, continuing posteriorly into distinct notal rim, also possessing tubercles ( Figs. 18E–J ). Color yellowish-ochre to brown, ridges, tubercles pale brown to yellow. Internal organs not visible through body wall. Rhinophores conical, with 10–12 lamellae, same color as body. Gill with 8-10 large, bipinnate leaves with same color as body, arranged in row anterior to anus. Foot wider than notum, greatly expanded laterally near head, same color as body, with lighter edge. Oral tentacles small, blunt.

Radular formula 10 × 11.0. 11 in a 12 mm preserved length specimen (MNHN-IM-2019-26388). Innermost lateral teeth very small, hook-shaped, with curved, smooth cusps, broad bases ( Fig. 19F ). Other lateral teeth very elongate, with broad, rectangular bases, blunt long, straight cusps ( Fig. 19G ).

Reproductive system with an elongate, narrow, slightly curved ampulla, connecting to female gland complex, prostate ( Fig. 20A ). Prostate large, flattened, curved around bursa copulatrix, narrowing into a convoluted deferent duct, opening into a common atrium with vagina. Vagina long, straight, connecting into bursa copulatrix near seminal receptacle connection. Bursa copulatrix spherical, about ten times as large as spherical seminal receptacle. Penial spines triangular to elongate (about 100–150 µm long), with relatively broad bases ( Fig. 20B ).

Phylogenetic position. Gymnodoris feyae sp. nov. is closely related but distinct from Gymnodoris sp. 60, these two species are sister to one another (PP: 1, MLB: 100) and together they are sister to Gymnodoris striata (PP: 1, MLB: 100) ( Fig. 1A ).

Etymology. This species is name in honor of Pauline Fey, outstanding naturalist and sea slug photographer and collector, who provided most of the specimens from Nouméa of this species here examined as well as many other species.

Remarks. Gymnodoris feyae sp. nov. appears to be endemic to New Caledonia. This species is externally very similar to Gymnodoris sp. 60 reported from the Philippines and Indonesia ( Gosliner et al., 2018; Knutson & Gosliner 2022) but genetically distinct, it was consistently recovered as a different species in the species delimitation analyses. Gymnodoris sp. 61 ( Gosliner et al., 2018) is also similar but more reddish in color. Gymnodoris feyae sp. nov. was reported from Nouméa by Hervé (2010) as Analogium sp. A record of a similar specimen from Japan by Nakano (2018) as Gymnodoris sp. 5 needs to be studied to determine its relationship with G. feyae sp. nov.

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 19. Gymnodoris wanaporum sp. nov., Gymnodoris fassioae sp. nov., and Gymnodoris feyae sp. nov., scanning electron micrographs of the radulae. A–B. G. wanaporum sp. nov., holotype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26412, isolate JD52), inner lateral teeth (A), outer lateral teeth (B). C–E. G. fassioae sp. nov., holotype, Koumac, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM- 2019-26502, isolate JD24), inner lateral teeth (C), mid lateral teeth (D), outer lateral teeth (E). F–G. G. feyae sp. nov., paratype, Nouméa, New Caledonia (MNHN-IM-2019-26388, isolate JD89), inner lateral teeth (F), outer lateral teeth (G).

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).