Doris marginata Quoy and Gaimard, 1832

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 : 729

Doris marginata Quoy and Gaimard, 1832 (Fig. 26D)

Description notes Only external morphology: size 200 mm; body red, oval; mantle wide, margin undulating all around except on head; gill branches arranged around anus and forming seven tufts; oral tentacles oval and crenate; specimen observed swimming violently.

Own conclusion/opinion on its taxonomic status This species was by most authors regarded as a junior synonym of H. sanguineus . However, Yonow (2001) suggested that H. sanguineus was endemic to the Red Sea and this species should be considered valid. The species epithet “ marginatus ” was the second available name for the widely distributed Indo-Pacific “ Hexabranchus lacer .” Because the description of “ H. lacer ” did not include coloration and present distinct pustules, several authors overlooked that name and applied “ marginatus ” for that species ( Baba, 1936; Kay & Young, 1969; Risbec, 1928; Yonow, 2001). Nevertheless, here we show that “ H. lacer ” should have priority over “ marginatus .” The illustration shows that this species is a morphotype of H. lacer differing from H. giganteus sp. nov. of similar size by the lack of pink blotches, a dark red submarginal band lined in white and dorsum texture.