Trapania velox
(Cockerell, 1901)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: ANADORIDOIDEA
Family: Goniodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

Carmel, California, USA to Bahia Tortugas, Baja California, Mexico [Behrens & Hermisillo, 2005].

PHOTO

South Monastery Beach, Carmel, California, USA. Pacific Ocean. Depth: 43 feet. Length: 8-10 mm. 21 January 2006. At the south end of a reef parallel to the beach about 400 yards out from shore. Photographer: Hans Crommenacker

Small translucent white goniodorid with a pattern of dark blackish brown longitudinal lines down the body. There is one down the dorsal midline from  the front of the head back to near the gills where it branches out each side. Behind the gills the line continues on to the posterior tip of the foot. On each side of the dorsum another line runs back from just behind the rhinophores to the posterior part of the foot. There can also be a black submarginal line just in from the edge of the foot. There is also a blackish brown line along the side of the extra rhinophoral and extra branchial processes. The oral tentacles, rhinophores and lateral processes are tipped with yellow, as are the gills and the posterior end of the foot. It is reported to grow to 20 mm in length.

• Behrens, D. W. and Hermosillo, A. (2005) Eastern Pacific Nudibranchs. A Guide to the Opisthobranchs from Alaska to Central America. Monterey, California, Sea Challengers.  1-137.
• Cockerell, T.D.A. (1901) Three new nudibranchs from California. Journal of the Malacological Society of London, 8: 85-87.
• MacFarland, F. M. (1966) Studies of Opisthobranchiate Mollusks of the Pacific coast of North America. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 6: 1-546.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2006 (January 24) Trapania velox (Cockerell, 1901). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/trapvelo

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