Peltodoris rosae, Valdés & Bertsch, 2010

Valdés, Ángel & Bertsch, Hans, 2010, Two new species of dorid nudibranchs from the Gulf of California (Mar de Cortés), Baja California, Mexico, add _ journal _ name _ here 33 (1), pp. 1-11 : 7-9

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16851049
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03FC1258-FFD6-3416-FD17-FAFAFF25FEEA
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Peltodoris rosae
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Peltodoris rosae View in CoL spec. nov.

Figs 2B View Fig , 5 View Fig , 6 View Fig

Material examined. Holotype: Punta la Gringa , Bahía de los Ángeles, Gulf of California, Baja California, México (29°02.57 'N; 113°32.3 'W), 14 June 1996, 5.8 m depth, 66 mm long alive, leg. Hans Bertsch ( LACM 3030 About LACM ). GoogleMaps

External morphology. The body is wide and oval ( Fig. 2B View Fig ), with the posterior end of the foot covered by the mantle. The dorsum is covered with spiculose tubercles between 100-300 µm long ( Fig. 5D View Fig ). The body is grayish orange to pale brown. The dorsum is covered with a number of rounded patches distributed irregularly all over the surface. The largest patches are black with the center dark brown, whereas the smallest are pale brown with a darker line surrounding them. There are also a number of small opaque white spots distributed all over the mantle margin, and a few on the central notal area. The rhinophores are dark brown with the apex white. The gill is composed of 8 tripinnate branchial leaves, which are grayish orange.

The anterior border of the foot is grooved and

notched ( Fig. 6B View Fig ). The oral tentacles are short and cylindrical with a rounded apex.

Anatomy. The labial cuticle is smooth. The radular formula is 29 ×40.0. 40 in the holotype ( LACM 3030). Rachidian teeth are absent ( Fig. 5A View Fig ). The lateral teeth are hamate, having a single cusp and lacking denticles ( Fig 5B View Fig ). The teeth increase their size gradually towards the medial portion of the half-row. The outermost teeth are also hamate and lacking denticles ( Fig. 5C View Fig ).

The reproductive system is triaulic ( Fig. 6A View Fig ). The ampulla is long and curved. It enters the female glands near their nidamental opening. The prostate is long and granular. It is divided into two different portions that are clearly distinguishable by their different texture and coloration. The deferent duct is long, and expands into the muscular ejaculatory portion. The deferent duct opens into a common atrium with the vagina. There are no penial hooks. The vagina is long and narrow. At its distal end, the vagina has a series of vaginal glands; at its proximal end the vagina connects to the large and oval bursa copulatrix. Another duct, which connects to the seminal receptacle and the uterine duct, leads from the bursa copulatrix. The bursa copulatrix is about twenty times as large as the seminal receptacle in volume ( Fig. 6A View Fig ).

Etymology. This species is named after Rosa del Carmen Campay Villalobos, wife of HB, for her marvelous support and encouragement of his “nudibranching” in the Sea of Cortez, and her many hours of concerned and attentive shore watch while he was underwater.

Remarks. Peltodoris rosae has all the features characteristic of the genus Peltodoris (see Valdés 2002), so P. rosae is regarded as a member of this taxon.

The eastern Pacific species most similar to Peltodoris rosae is Peltodoris mullineri Millen & Bertsch, 2000 , originally described from California and the Pacific coast of Baja California (Millen & Bertsch 2000). These two species have a yellowish background color with dark patches and yellowish tripinnate gills. However, the dorsal dark patches of P. mullineri are composed of aggregations of individual small spots, whereas the patches in P. rosae are solid colored. According to Millen & Bertsch (2000), P. mullineri shows little variability, and the three specimens examined were virtually identical. Other external differences between these two species include the presence of white spots on the mantle margin of P. rosae and a higher body profile of P. mullineri . Anatomical differences include the presence of vaginal glands in P. rosae and the proportionally larger bursa copulatrix.

Peltodoris atromaculata , the type species of the genus Peltodoris , is a Mediterranean and northeastern Atlantic species characterized by having a whitish to pale cream general color with a number of dark brown or black large patches distributed on the entire dorsum, and varying in shape and size (see Valdés 2002). This pattern is different from the yellowish background color with smaller brown patches surrounded by black pigment in P. rosae . Internally, the mid-lateral radular teeth of P. atromaculata are more elongated and curved and the innermost lateral teeth are much shorter. The reproductive system of P. atromaculata has a much longer deferent duct than that of P. rosae . Additionally, P. rosae has a vaginal gland that is absent in P. atromaculata .

Another species assigned with certainty to Peltodoris is Peltodoris nobilis , a well-known species from the Pacific Coast of North America (see Valdés 2002). Peltodoris nobilis also has a yellowish background color with brown spots, but they are much smaller than those of P. rosae and concentrated only on the central area of the dorsum. Internally, P. nobilis is characterized by having a short prostate and lacking a vaginal gland, both different from P. rosae .

Other species previously assigned to Anisodoris that could be members of Peltodoris are in need of further review. As mentioned above, at this point it is impossible to determine how many species are actual members of Anisodoris . Millen (1982) provided a list of the species assigned to Anisodoris summarized in a table, including color and anatomical information. None of the species have a coloration similar to that of P. rosae .