''Felimare pinna'' 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
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 ...
or 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 ...
mollusc
Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
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)]
''Felimare pinna'' (Ortea, 1988).
Accessed on 2018-12-28. Transferred to the genus ''Felimare'' according to the hypothesis that all Atlantic species which were formerly ''Hypselodoris'' belong in that genus.
[Epstein, H. E.; Hallas, J. M.; Johnson, R. F.; Lopez, A.; Gosliner, T. M. (2018)]
Reading between the lines: revealing cryptic species diversity and colour patterns in ''Hypselodoris'' nudibranchs (Mollusca: Heterobranchia: Chromodorididae).
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 2018, XX, 1–74. With 40 figures.
Distribution
This species was described from
Baía do Galeão
Baía do Galeão is a bay on the north coast of the island of Maio in Cape Verde. The nearest village is Cascabulho, to the south. The bay was mentioned as "Ghelloons" in the 1747 map by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin
Jacques Nicolas Bellin (; 1703 ...
,
Maio,
Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
with additional specimens from
Boavista.
Description
''Felimare pinna'' is dark blue with a wide longitudinal white band in the middle of the back. The sides of this band have quadrangular expansions in the form of battlements, alternating with areas of very dark blue colour in which there are conspicuous white spots. The middle white band reaches the rhinophores or penetrates between them and surrounds the gill behind. In the larger specimens, the white band tends to fade and loses its uniform opaque white tone due to the appearance of brownish tones disintegrating it. In front of the rhinophores the mantle is dark blue with elongated white specks. The tail is also blue, with a median stripe of orange colour and little white spots that become smaller towards the foot. The edge of the mantle has a thin orange line above and one below, delimiting a dark blue zone between them.
The rhinophores are blue with opaque white spots in the lower two thirds and uniformly white in the upper third, whilst the gill leaves have the lower third blue and the rest white. The rachis is also white. In the smallest animal studied (2 mm) there were 5 gill leaves and in the largest (25 mm) 10 leaves. After the gill the mantle narrows. The hyponotum is dark blue with white spots on the upper part and yellowish-white spots near the foot; in larger individuals there is always a greater abundance of yellow spots. At the genital opening there is always a series of large spots and numerous small spots underneath it. In the older and larger specimens, the dark blue of the mantle takes on a brownish hue.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q60792529
Chromodorididae
Gastropods described in 1988