Felimare nyalya
| Felimare nyalya | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Nudibranchia |
| Family: | Chromodorididae |
| Genus: | Felimare |
| Species: | F. nyalya |
| Binomial name | |
| Felimare nyalya | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Felimare nyalya is a species of colourful sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.[2][3]
Taxonomic history
This species was originally described as Chromodoris nyalya by Eveline and Ernst Marcus in 1967, based on specimens collected from the tropical western Atlantic.[1] It was later transferred to the genus Risbecia by Ortea, Valdés and García-Gómez in 1996 as Risbecia nyalya, during a revision of Atlantic blue chromodorids.[4] It was subsequently moved into the resurrected genus Felimare based on extensive molecular phylogeny of the chromodorid nudibranchs.[3]
Distribution
This species is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. Its known range includes the Caribbean Sea, the waters surrounding Cuba, and the Gulf of Mexico.[2][5]
Ecology
Like many other species within the family Chromodorididae, Felimare nyalya is a carnivorous marine gastropod that likely feeds on specific species of sponges.
References
- 1 2 Marcus, Ev.; Marcus, Er. (1967). American Opisthobranch Mollusks Part I, Tropical American opisthobranchs; Part II, Opisthobranchs from the Gulf of California. Studies in Tropical Oceanography. 6: 1–256, pl. 1.
- 1 2 3 Bouchet, P. (2012). Felimare nyalya (Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2012-05-11.
- 1 2 Johnson R.F. & Gosliner T.M. (2012). Traditional taxonomic groupings mask evolutionary history: A molecular phylogeny and new classification of the chromodorid nudibranchs. PLoS ONE 7(4): e33479.
- ↑ Ortea, J., Valdés, Á. & García-Gómez, J.C. (1996). Revisión de las especies atlánticas de la familia Chromodorididae (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) del grupo cromático azul. Avicennia suplemento 1: 1-165 page(s): 147
- ↑ Rosenberg, G.; Moretzsohn, F.; García, E. F. (2009). Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 579–699 in: Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas.