A New Species of Predatory Nudibranch (Gastropoda: Trinchesiidae) of the Scleractinian Coral Goniopora
Juntong Hu
Department of Biology and Hong Kong Branch of the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
Yanjie Zhang
Department of Biology and Hong Kong Branch of the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
HKBU Institute of Research and Continuing Education, Virtual University Park, Shenzhen, China
Sam King Fung Yiu
Department of Biology and Hong Kong Branch of the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
James Yang Xie
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Hong Kong SAR Government, China.
Jian-Wen Qiu
Department of Biology and Hong Kong Branch of the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
HKBU Institute of Research and Continuing Education, Virtual University Park, Shenzhen, China
Communicated by Benny Kwok Kan Chan
Members of the nudibranch genus Phestilla are common predators of scleractinian corals, but currently this genus has 10 described species only. Here we describe Phestilla goniophaga sp. nov., the first formally named predatory nudibranch species of the stony corals from the genus Goniopora. The new species can be distinguished from its congeneric species by the large number of long cerata (up to 16 rows and 23 cerata per row), and white rounded hump on the notum. The hump resembles the mouth of the coral poly, while the cerata resemble the coral tentacles. The egg masses of P. goniophaga sp. nov. are unique among Phestilla spp. egg masses in being bright orange in color, and forming a coiled ribbon. Analysis of the COI, 16S rRNA and H3 genes of P. goniophaga sp. nov. also showed that this species is distinct from other congeneric species.
