Gymnodoris okinawae Baba, 1936

Gymnodoris okinawae Baba, 1936 View in CoL

( Figs. 6L–M View FIGURE 6 )

Gymnodoris okinawae Baba, 1936: 25–26 View in CoL , fig. 13. Type locality: Ishigaki-shima , Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

Material examined. New Caledonia: Loyalty Is.: Ouvéa, Tiberia ( 20°41.15'S, 166°38.55'E), 0 m depth [Quinzaine des Nudibranches Ouvéa Expedition, stn. QUM42 ], 15 Jan 2024, 1 specimen 7 mm preserved length ( MNHN- IM-2019-26450 , isolate JD168) GoogleMaps . New Caledonia: North Province: Hienghène, Baie d’Ouaième ( 20°37.62'S, 164°52.41'E), 5 m depth [coastal rocky area], 11 Apr 2023, 1 specimen 6 mm preserved length (MNHN-IM-2019- 26528, isolate JD178), leg. A. Doulas. GoogleMaps

Description. Body narrow, elongate, with few low conical tubercles ( Figs. 6L–M View FIGURE 6 ). Velum and notal rim visible around head and on sides of gill, possessing some irregular tubercles. Posterior end of foot tapering into narrow “tail.” Color translucent white, with numerous oval yellow or orange spots; tubercles opaque white with yellow tips. Network of glandular structures visible through body wall. Rhinophores bulbous, with 10 lamellae, translucent white stalk, brownish-grey or orange club. Gill with 9 large, tripinnate, white leaves, arranged in a circle around anus. Foot narrower than notum, opaque white.

Phylogenetic position. Gymnodoris okinawae is a well-supported species (PP: 1, MLB: 100) sister to the undescribed species G. sp. 3 (PP: 0.96, MLB: 95) ( Fig. 1A View FIGURE 1 ).

Remarks. Baba (1936) introduced Gymnodoris okinawae from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and described it as having a pale-yellow background color with the dorsum ornamented with spots and short lines of an orange-yellow color and the rhinophoral clubs tinged with orange-yellow. Baba (1936, text fig. 13) illustrated a live specimen, which is limaciform, with a distinct head, smooth velum, and having indistinct tubercles. This description matches the illustration of this species by Wells & Bryce (1993) and Gosliner et al. (2018) but differ considerably from that by Nakano (2018), which has well developed, white conical tubercles; the latter corresponds to specimens named Gymnodoris sp. 3 in Knutson & Gosliner (2022) and herein.

The specimens from New Caledonia here examined belong to the same species as those identified by Knutson & Gosliner (2022) as G. okinawae , and are therefore assigned to this species. Gymnodoris okinawae was previously reported from New Caledonia by Hervé (2010) as Gymnodoris citrina (larger photo) from Poindimié, New Caledonia.