Goniobranchus_kuniei Knowpia

Goniobranchus kuniei
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Heterobranchia
Order:	Nudibranchia
Suborder:	Doridina
Superfamily:	Doridoidea
Family:	Chromodorididae
Genus:	Goniobranchus
Species:	G. kuniei
Binomial name
	Goniobranchus kuniei; (Pruvot-Fol, 1930)
Synonyms
	Chromodoris kuniei Pruvot-Fol, 1930 basionym ; Chromodoris kuniei ransoni (Pruvot-Fol, 1954) ; Glossodoris kuniei Pruvot-Fol, 1930) ; Glossodoris ransoni Pruvot-Fol, 1954 ;

Goniobranchus kuniei is a species of very colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.^[2]

Distribution edit

This species was described from New Caledonia. It is known from the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean from Fiji, Marshall Islands, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and the Taiwan.^[3]

Description edit

Goniobranchus kuniei has a pattern of blue spots with pale blue haloes on a creamy mantle. There is a double border to the mantle of purple and blue. The length of the body reaches 40 mm.^[4] The species Goniobranchus tritos and Goniobranchus geminus have similar colour patterns.^[5]^[6]

Habitat edit

This species likes waters that are between 21 and 26 degrees Celsius and is often found between 5 and 40 meters.

Goniobranchus kuniei at Bima bay (Sumbawa, Indonesia)
Goniobranchus kuniei

References edit

^ Pruvot-Fol, A. 1930. Diagnose provisoires (incomplètes) des espèces nouvelles et liste provisoire des mollusques nudibranches recueillis par Mme. A. Pruvot-Fol en Nouvelle Calédonie (Ile des Pins). Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, series 2, 2(2):229-232.
^ ^a ^b WoRMS (2011). Goniobranchus kuniei Pruvot-Fol, 1930. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 5 May 2012
^ Rudman, W.B., 1999 (January 22) Chromodoris kuniei Pruvot-Fol, 1930. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
^ Rudman W.B. (1987) The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific: Chromodoris epicuria, C. aureopurpurea, C. annulata, C. coi and Risbecia tryoni colour groups. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 90: 305-407. page(s): 341
^ Debelius, H. & Kuiter, R.H. (2007) Nudibranchs of the world. ConchBooks, Frankfurt, 360 pp. ISBN 978-3-939767-06-0 page(s): 159
^ Gosliner, T.M., Behrens, D.W. & Valdés, Á. (2008) Indo-Pacific Nudibranchs and seaslugs. A field guide to the world's most diverse fauna. Sea Challengers Natural History Books, Washington, 426 pp. page(s): 216