Hypselodoris lapislazuli
(Bertsch & Ferreira, 1971)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Chromodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

At present known only from the Galapagos Ids, eastern Pacific.

PHOTO

Cerro Brujo, San Cristobal Island, 10 m, Galapagos, Ecuador, September 1991. Length: 15 mm. Photographer: Terry Gosliner.

The mantle is a dark blue scattered with rounded or elongate bright yellow spots. There is a broad bluish white band around the mantle edge which can be continuous, or broken anteriorly and /or about midway down each side. There can also be elongate bluish white spots amongst the yellow spots, and in some specimens they can coalesce to form an almost continuous median band from the rhinophores back to the gills.

The body and foot are similarly coloured, with a dark blue background, yellow spots, and a bluish-white border. The rhinophores are dark blue with white spots. The gills are also dark blue with white tips. It grows to at least 15 mm in length.  It is one of a group of yellow spotted blue chromodorids from the eastern Pacific, including Mexichromis tura, Hypselodoris ghiselini, H. californiensis, H. agassizii, and Chromodoris spohni.

  • Bertsch, H. and Ferreira, A. J. (1974) Four new species of nudibranchs from tropical west America. The Veliger 16: 343-353.
  • Bertsch, H. (1978) The Chromodoridinae nudibranchs from the Pacific coast of America.--Part IV. The genus Hypselodoris. The Veliger 21: 236-250.
Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2006 (March 13) Hypselodoris lapislazuli (Bertsch & Ferreira, 1971). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/hypslapi

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