Hypselodoris maridadilus explained

Hypselodoris maridadilus is a species of colourful sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae. It feeds on sponges.^[1]

Distribution

This nudibranch is found in the Western Indian Ocean, from South Africa to the Red Sea.^[2]

Description

Hypselodoris maridadilus has a white to cream or yellow body with five purple longitudinal lines, and a purple bordered mantle.^[3] The gills and rhinophores are bright orange. It is similar in appearance to Hypselodoris whitei which differs slightly in having white-tipped rhinophores and gills. This species can reach a total length of at least .^{[4] [5]}

Notes and References

1. MolluscaBase (2018). Hypselodoris maridadilus Rudman, 1977. Accessed on 2019-01-17
2. Rudman, W.B., 1999 (March 1) Hypselodoris maridadilus Rudman, 1977. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
3. Bidgrain, P., 2018. Hypselodoris maridadilus South West Indian Ocean sea slugs and flatworms, accessed 2019-01-17.
4. Gosliner, T.M. & Johnson, R.F. (1999) Phylogeny of Hypselodoris (Nudibranchia: Chromodorididae) with a review of the monophyletic clade of Indo-Pacific species, including descriptions of twelve new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 125: 1-114
5. Gosliner, T.M., Behrens, D.W. & Valdés, Á., 2018. Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification - Indo-Pacific. New World Publications; 2nd Revised, Updated edition. 452 pp.,, p. 184