Portorchardia, Korshunova & Fletcher & Martynov, 2025

Portorchardia gen. nov.

( Figs 1, 2, 13, 18; Table 5)

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Type species: Portorchardia candela sp. nov..

Etymology: The genus name Portorchardia is named in honour of Port Orchard, the residence town of Karin Fletcher, whose longterms efforts in collecting and observing nudibranchs in this area has led to the description of many remarkable nudibranch taxa, including this new genus. The new species’ name candela means ‘candle’ and refers to the flame-like coloration of its rhinophores (see Remarks below).

Diagnosis: Body moderately narrow. Notal edge discontinuous. Cerata in several groups. Rhinophores moderately annulate. Anterior foot corners present. Central teeth with non-compressed moderately wide cusp and distinct long denticles. Lateral teeth denticulated with attenuated process basally. Distal and proximal receptaculum seminis. Vas deferens short, expands into a broad penial sheath with folded penis, prostate indistinct. Species included: Portorchardia candela sp. nov..

Remarks: The new genus Portorchardia gen. nov. and new species Portorchardia candela gen. et sp. nov. represent a remarkable combination of external features ( Fig. 18J, K, T), which are partly similar to the genus Orienthella , and molecular phylogenetic data ( Fig. 1, 2, 13), which firmly places Portorchardia gen. nov. as sister to the genera Gulenia , Fjordia , Corrupta gen. nov., and Himatina ( Fig. 13), and not directly related to the Orienthella clade. However, externally Portorchardia gen. nov. and the type species of Orienthella are distinguished by the relatively narrower body in the latter and relatively less annulated rhinopores in the new genus ( Fig. 18M, T). According to the internal morphological data, the new genus Portorchardia gen. nov. differs from Orienthella , the genus it most closely externally resembles, by its distinctly non-compressed cusp of the central teeth and distinctly longer lateral denticles ( Fig. 18N–P, U–W). Despite that the teeth of ‘ C. ’ fisheri [the latter is junior synonym of Orienthella piunca (Marcus Er., 1961) comb.nov.] are laterally figured in MacFarland (1966), the morphology of the radula also matches the true Orienthella radula with shorter lateral denticles around a compressed cusp of the central teeth, and not Portorchardia with distinctly longer lateral denticles and a non-compressed cusp ( Fig. 18N–P, U–W). These data highlight both the importance of careful consideration of morphology in the molecular era and a multilevel organismal diversity system, without which the discovery of the remarkable conjunction of external similarity, internal morphological distinctness and distant genetic relationship between Portorchardia gen. nov. and Orienthella ( Figs 13, 18) according to molecular data would be meaningless under the pan-lumping concept of ‘ Coryphella ’. Comparison of the new genus Portorchardia gen. nov. with all valid, currently included Coryphellidae genera is presented in Table 5.

The Coryphellidae family potentially includes more undescribed taxa, especially among Northern and Eastern Pacific coryphellid species, which must be carefully recognized at the genus-level and established using fine-scale morphological and molecular data, instead of a broad, completely undiagnosable pan-lumping synonymization inconsistent with molecular phylogenetic data. In this respect, for example, ‘ Coryphella ’ abei Baba, 1987 [original description in ( Baba 1987b), Japan], which possesses a moderately broad body, cerata in groups, Y-shaped white mark on the head, smooth rhinophores, anterior foot corners, non-compressed relatively broad cusp of the central teeth with distinct lateral denticles, lateral teeth with moderately attenuated basal process, moderately long vas deferens with distinct prostate and conical penis, and apparently a single distal receptaculum according to the original description, therefore, could potentially be related either to the genera Himatina , Corrupta gen. nov., and Portorchardia gen. nov., or more distantly related to the genera Orienthella and Occidenthella , and, thus, probably represents a separate genus, which needs to be established in further work.