Phyllidia (Fryeria) picta (Pruvot-Fol, 1957)

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 : 43-44

Phyllidia (Fryeria) picta (Pruvot-Fol, 1957) Fig. 16

Phyllidia picta Pruvot-Fol, 1957: 110, figs. 5-12 (no locality).

Fryeria menindie Brunckhorst, 1993: 47, fig. 26B, pl. 4G, 5A (western Pacific).

Fryeria picta . - Yonow 1996: 511, fig. 14, tab. 3 (Christmas Island, Indian Ocean + Indonesia).

Material.

Socotra: two specimens, both 27 × 12 mm pres. (St. 018, GR-22), Qualansiyah Bay 12°41.026'N, 53°28.309'E, 10 March 1999, leg. G Reinicke.

Description/Remarks.

This is the first record of Phyllidia (Fryeria) picta in the western Indian Ocean, identified by colour pattern and ventral anus. The colour pat tern does not appear to differ from that found in the western and central Pacific: the white-in-life areas around the tubercles are now grey-white, and the orange-in-life tubercles are a dirty yellow colour. There are three rows of individual tubercles which are not contiguous (as in marindica, see above) although the white bases of two or three tubercles may merge along the central line (Fig. 16A). Ventrally, the anterior foot margin is divided and the oral tentacles are triangular (Fig. 16B). The two specimens differ from preserved specimens of marindica (above) and Phyllidia (Fryeria) rueppelii Bergh, from the Red Sea: the black pigment covers much more of the dorsum in Phyllidia (Fryeria) picta , extending to the margin in rays. The black areas in Phyllidia (Fryeria) picta are smooth, while they are tuberculate in Phyllidia (Fryeria) rueppelii and small pustules may be present in the black areas of Phyllidia (Fryeria) marindica . All three species, however, are similar in having three central lines of orange tubercles, orange rhinophores, and a ventral anus.