Battle of the bands: systematics and phylogeny of the white Goniobranchus nudibranchs with marginal bands (Nudibranchia, Chromodorididae)

By

Soong, Giun Yee
Bonomo, Lynn
Reimer, James
Gosliner, Terrence M.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1083

Pages

169--210

Subjects

Biodiversity , coral reefs , mtDNA , species delimitation , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1083.72939

 

Abstract

Species identities ofGoniobranchusnudibranchs with white bodies and various marginal bands have long been problematic. In this study, specimens of theseGoniobranchusnudibranchs from the Philippines, Peninsular Malaysia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, and Madagascar were analyzed and molecular data were obtained in order to re-examine the relationships between species within this “whiteGoniobranchuswith marginal bands” group. The analyses clearly recovered six species groups corresponding to the described speciesGoniobranchus albonares,G. preciosus,G. rubrocornutus,G. sinensis, andG. verrierias well as one new species,G. fabulusSoong & Gosliner,sp. nov.Notably,G. preciosus,G. sinensis,G. rubrocornutus,G. verrieri, andG. fabulusSoong & Gosliner,sp. nov.exhibit color variation and polymorphism, suggesting that some aspects of color patterns (e.g., presence or absence of dorsal spots) may not always be useful in the identification of species in the “whiteGoniobranchuswith marginal bands” group, whereas other features such as gill and rhinophore colors and the arrangement and colors of the mantle marginal bands are more diagnostic for each species.