Hypselodoris whitei is a colourful species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of sea slug

Slug

Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...

 or dorid nudibranch

Nudibranch

A nudibranch is a member of what is now a taxonomic clade, and what was previously a suborder, of soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusks which shed their shell after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms...

, a marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 gastropod mollusk in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Chromodorididae

Chromodorididae

Chromodorididae are a taxonomic family of medium-sized to large, colorful, sea slugs; dorid nudibranchs in the superfamily Doridoidea. These are marine gastropod mollusks....

.

Distribution

This nudibranch is found in the Tropical Western Pacific

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 from Australia to Hawaii.

Description

Hypselodoris whitei has a yellow body with purple longitudinal lines, and a purple bordered mantle. The gills and rhinophore

Rhinophore

A rhinophore is one of a pair of club-shaped structures which are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy of a group of sea slugs, marine gastropod opisthobranch mollusks in the order Nudibranchia, the nudibranchs, specifically the dorid nudibranchs.- Etymology :The name relates to the...

s are bright orange tipped with white. It is very similar in appearance to Hypselodoris maridadilus

Hypselodoris maridadilus

Hypselodoris maridadilus is a species of colourful sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae...

but that species lacks the white-tipped rhinophores and gills.

This species can reach a total length of at least 40 mm and feeds on sponges.

Further reading

• 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
  Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
  Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society is the scientific journal of the Linnean Society published by Wiley-Blackwell.According to EBSCOhost, it "[p]resents original papers on zoology with an emphasis on the diversity, systematics, interrelationships, and habits of animals both living and...
  
  125(1): 1-114. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1999.tb00586.x.

External links

• Hypselodoris whitei page at nudipixel