''Goniobranchus petechialis'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of colorful

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some Marine biology, marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial Slug, slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are Sea snail, sea snails (marine gastropod moll ...

, a dorid

nudibranch Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs, belonging to the order Nudibranchia, that shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have b ...

, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the family

Chromodorididae Chromodorididae, or chromodorids, are a taxonomic family of colourful sea slugs; dorid nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Doridoidea. “Chromodorid nudibranchs are among the most gorgeously coloured of all animals.� ...

.MolluscaBase (2018)
''Goniobranchus petechialis'' (Gould, 1852).
Accessed on 2019-01-13.

Distribution

This species was described from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Description

This species is very distinctively coloured. It has apparently only been found twice, first in 1838–42 and then in 1959, when it was photographed. The mantle has a creamy straw-coloured background with an orange border and there are irregularly shaped red spots all over the back. The gill leaves are white with red edging and the

rhinophore A rhinophore is one of a pair of Chemoreceptor, chemosensory club-shaped, rod-shaped or ear-like structures which are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy in sea slugs, Marine (ocean), marine gastropod opisthobranch mollusks suc ...

clubs are bright orange. The body length reaches 40 mm.Gosliner, T.M., Behrens, D.W. & Valdés, Á. (2008) ''Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and seaslugs. A field guide to the world's most diverse fauna''. Sea Challengers Natural History Books, Washington, 426 pp. page(s): 228

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5581896 Chromodorididae Gastropods described in 1852