Cadlinella ornatissima (Risbec, 1928)

Yonow, Nathalie, 2012, Opisthobranchs from the western Indian Ocean, with descriptions of two new species and ten new records (Mollusca, Gastropoda), ZooKeys 197, pp. 1-130 : 25

Cadlinella ornatissima (Risbec, 1928) Fig. 9Plate 31

Cadlina ornatissima Risbec, 1928: 163, fig. 47, pl. 8 fig. 4 (New Caledonia).

Cadlinella ornatissima . - Rudman 1984: 247, figs. 1, 8, 95-97 (Tanzania and Heron Island, Australia); Yonow et al. 2002: 850, fig. 11c (Chagos).

Material.

Sri Lanka: 13 × 6 mm pres., Unawatuna, S of Galle, SW coast, 28 December 2010, leg. S Kahlbrock. - Gulf of Oman: photos of two individuals, Muscat, Oman, 01-12 April 2009, S Kahlbrock. - La Réunion and Mayotte http://seaslugs.free.fr/nudibranche/a_intro.htm.

Description.

The collected specimen was deep yellow in life with a white foot, long white rhinophores, and five white pinnate gills. The tubercles were elongated, and some were rounded whilst others were somewhat pointed; they were yellow basally and pink-red distally.

The specimen is well preserved, with some yellow remaining on the dorsum several months after collection. There is a tubercle in front of and behind each rhinophore, and three tubercles located just in front of the gill pocket. The spicules on the dorsum and in the tubercles are visible, as are the yellow tubercle bases; the distal parts are now white. Ventrally the hyponotum has an orange submarginal band and the submarginal bands of mantle glands are visible. The foot is deeply divided anteriorly, and the oral tentacles are so contracted as to be non-existent (Fig. 9).

Distribution.

This appears to be only the third record of Cadlinella ornatissima in the scientific literature from the Indian Ocean, in addition to photographic records from the Gulf of Eilat ( Yonow 2008).