Hexabranchus anaiteus Bergh, 1878

Tibiriçá, Yara, Pola, Marta, Pittman, Cory, Gosliner, Terrence M., Malaquias, Manuel A. & Cervera, Juan Lucas, 2023, A Spanish dancer? No! A troupe of dancers: a review of the family Hexabranchidae Bergh, 1891 (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia, Nudibranchia), Organisms Diversity & Evolution (New York, N. Y.) 23 (4), pp. 697-742 : 732

Hexabranchus anaiteus Bergh, 1878

Description notes Description based on internal and external morphology of three preserved specimens; illustration only shows radula and jaw. Maximum size 90 mm; preserved color red, mottled in purple on the notum; mottled underside; mantle margin yellow; foot sole red; body shape “as usual”; six to nine, commonly six, tripinnate gill tufts; anal papilla elevated; kidney orifice on the right side; oval oral tentacles; radula very large and strong with 47 rows of simple, hook-shaped curved teeth; thin vas deferent leading to a spiral penis.

Own conclusion/opinion on its taxonomic status Bergh (1900) synonymized this species as H. lacer and later Thompson (1972) changed it to the synonym of H. sanguineus . By the location, mottled color, and description of the reproductive system, this species is likely a junior synonym H. lacer . The coloration of a relatively small specimen and the spiral penis excludes the possibility of being H. giganteus sp. nov.