Godiva quadricolor
The nudibranch Godiva quadricolor, 40 mm long, Algoa Bay, South Africa, 18-20 m.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Nudipleura

clade Nudibranchia
clade Dexiarchia
clade Cladobranchia

clade Aeolidida
Superfamily:
Aeolidioidea
Family:
Facelinidae
Genus:
Godiva
Species:
G. quadricolor
Binomial name
Godiva quadricolor
(Barnard, 1927)[1]
Synonyms

Hervia quadricolor Barnard, 1927 (original combination)

Godiva quadricolor is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.[2]

Distribution

This species was described from St. James, False Bay, South Africa. It occurs on the South African coast from the Cape Peninsula to East London, intertidally to 20 m.[3] It has also been reported from the Mediterranean, off western Australia and West Africa.

Description

Godiva quadricolor is a slender pale-bodied nudibranch with many cerata striped in bands of blue, yellow and orange. Its head is orange with rugose orange rhinophores and has a pair of orange oral tentacles with a white central stripe.[4][5] Specimens from Western Australia differ significantly in colour and may represent another species.[6]

Godiva cf. quadricolor laying eggs, Swan River, Western Australia.

Ecology

Godiva quadricolor preys on hydroids and on other nudibranchs. Its egg ribbon is a globular mass of white zigzags.

References

  1. ↑ Barnard, K.H. (1927) South African nudibranch mollusca, with descriptions of new species, and a note on some specimens from Tristan d'Acunha. Annals of the South African Museum, 25(1): 171-215, Pls 19, 20.
  2. ↑ Rosenberg, G. (2012). Godiva quadricolor. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2012-06-05
  3. ↑ Gosliner, T.M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8
  4. ↑ Rudman, W.B., 1999 (Jul 21). Godiva quadricolor. [in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  5. ↑ Branch, G.M. et al. (2002). Two Oceans. 5th impression. David Philip, Cate Town & Johannesburg.
  6. ↑ Willan, R.C. (1987) Phylogenetic systematics and zoogeography of Australian nudibranchs. 1. Presence of the aeolid Godiva quadricolor (Barnard) in Western Australia. Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia, 8: 71-85.
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