Siphopteron quadrispinosum
Gosliner, 1989

Order: CEPHALASPIDEA
Superfamily: PHILINOIDEA
Family: Gastropteridae

DISTRIBUTION

Originally described from Hawaii & Papua New Guinea. Records on Forum from Japan, New Caledonia, NE Queensland.

PHOTO

Upper: Hawaii. Photo: Scott Johnson
Lower: Chenal de la Passe de Koumac, East side, New Caledonia, 20°40.4'S, 164°14.9'E, 26m, In lagoon, hard substrate 26 October 1993, 1 specimen, 3mm live alive. AM C200653. Photo: Bill Rudman

This species was described from animals collected from Hawaii and Papua New Guinea. In both cases they were yellow with an orange-red siphon and posterior flagellum. There were differences between the two populations. In Papua New Guinea specimens the orange-red on the siphon continued along the edge of the posterior shield, and the edge of the parapodia were yellow, without a coloured margin. Hawaiian animals did not have the orange-red along the margin of the posterior shield but the parapodia had a white margin as in the attached photo.

See message suggesting Siphopteron leah Klussmann-Kolb & Klussmann, 2003 is a probable synonym.

Reference:
• Klussmann-Kolb, A. & Klussmann, A. (2003) A new species of Gastropteridae (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia, Cephalaspidea) from tropical Northeast Australia. Zootaxa, 156: 1-12
• Gosliner, T.M. (1989): Revision of the Gastropteridae (Opisthobranchia: Cephalaspidea) with descriptions of a new genus and six new species. The Veliger, 32(4): 333-381.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2004 (January 15) Siphopteron quadrispinosum Gosliner, 1989. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/siphquad

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