Guide to Opisthobranchs Nudibranchia Doridina Doridoidei Chromodoridoidea Felimida clenchi

Felimida clenchi

Felimida clenchi (Russell, 1935)

Felimida clenchi @ Lake Worth Lagoon, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA 6-08-2007 by Anne DuPont

WoRMS Taxonomic Information

Current accepted name: Felimida clenchi (H. D. Russell, 1935)

Current classification

Superdomain	Biota
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Mollusca
Class	Gastropoda
Subclass	Heterobranchia
Infraclass	Euthyneura
Subterclass	Ringipleura
Superorder	Nudipleura
Order	Nudibranchia
Suborder	Doridina
Infraorder	Doridoidei
Superfamily	Chromodoridoidea
Family	Chromodorididae
Subfamily	Chromodoridinae
Genus	Felimida
Species	Felimida clenchi (H. D. Russell, 1935)

Taxonomic note: The European Atlantic and Mediterranean species of the genus Chromodoris and Hypselodoris have been reconsidered. After molecular analysis of the Chromodorididae performed by Johnson & Gosliner (2012, Traditional taxonomic groupings mask evolutionary history: A molecular phylogeny and new classification of the chromodorid nudibranchs. PLoS ONE 7(4): 33479) the Hypselodoris species have been included in the genus Felimare Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967 and the Chromodoris species have been included in the genus Felimida Ev. Marcus, 1971.

Felimida clenchi was originally described by Henry D. Russell in 1935 under the name Glossodoris clenchi, based on a single 9 mm specimen collected at Ferry Beach, Bermuda. The original description was published in The Nautilus and included illustrations of the animal in dorsal and ventral views, together with details of the rhinophores and gills. Russell did not describe the internal structures or provide a study of the radula.

The subsequent history of the species was marked by considerable confusion with other chromodoridids exhibiting similar colour patterns. In 1955, Eveline Marcus described Glossodoris neona from specimens collected in São Paulo (Brazil), and this name was subsequently treated by different authors either as a separate species or as a synonym of F. clenchi. In 1963, Eveline and Ernst Marcus described Chromodoris binza from Curaçao, while Ortea and Pérez described Chromodoris britoi from the Canary Islands in 1983. These species subsequently became part of a species complex characterised by similar colour patterns.

The revision by Ortea, Valdés and Espinosa (1994) recognised four species within the so-called Chromodoris clenchi colour group: C. clenchi, C. neona, C. binza and C. britoi. Under this interpretation, C. clenchi was regarded as a predominantly Caribbean species, whereas C. britoi was considered the form occurring in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.

Subsequently, the phylogenetic analyses of Johnson and Gosliner (2012) demonstrated that the traditional genus Chromodoris did not constitute a monophyletic group including the Atlantic species, and placed C. clenchi and other Atlantic and eastern Pacific species within Felimida Marcus, 1971.

The situation was considerably clarified by the molecular study of Padula et al. (2016), which combined mitochondrial DNA data, species-delimitation analyses and characters of reproductive anatomy. The results did not support the traditional separation of the four nominal species and recognised three lineages: a redefined F. clenchi, a redefined F. binza, and a Brazilian species that had not yet been described at that time. Consequently, F. neona was treated as a synonym of F. clenchi, whereas F. britoi was included in the synonymy of F. binza. The study also demonstrated that F. clenchi exhibits a considerable degree of colour polymorphism.

The classification currently followed by WoRMS/MolluscaBase accepts Felimida clenchi (Russell, 1935), retaining Glossodoris clenchi as the basionym and Chromodoris clenchi as a previous combination; Felimida neona is listed as a synonym.

Synonyms

Chromodoris clenchi (Russell, 1935)
Glossodoris clenchi Russell, 1935
Felimida neona (Marcus, 1955)

Description
This dorid nudibranch has an oval body, with a relatively smooth dorsum and a well-developed mantle. It can reach approximately 30 mm in length, although the species was originally described from a specimen only 9 mm long. The external colouration is highly variable, a characteristic that constitutes one of the most interesting aspects of the species. In specimens included within the currently accepted concept of F. clenchi, the body may display reddish, pinkish or whitish tones, over which opaque white or bluish spots form complex patterns. The pale markings may be outlined by fine yellow lines, while the mantle margin bears a red line and, towards the inside, a relatively broad white submarginal band with rounded extensions towards the inner part of the mantle. The rhinophores and branchial leaves range from bluish to violet in colour. Another description of Caribbean specimens characterises the background as pale blue, covered by a dense red pattern that leaves small circular areas of the background colour exposed; towards the rhinophores and branchial plume, the red may become yellowish. The mantle margin bears a white submarginal band bordered by a red line, while the rhinophores and gills are white, with the rachis purple. This colour variation should not automatically be interpreted as indicative of different species. Indeed, the molecular analyses of Padula et al. (2016) demonstrated that specimens with markedly different colour patterns may belong to the same lineage, and that the F. clenchi complex exhibits extreme colour polymorphism. This finding was particularly important because much of the taxonomic history of the group had been based on differences in external colouration.

Biology
Felimida clenchi is a species of the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic. Available records generally place it in shallow environments, on hard substrates and in association with sponges. In Bocas del Toro (Panama), specimens were found under rocks and on sponges, at depths of approximately 0-30 m. Like other members of the family Chromodorididae, F. clenchi is a sponge-feeding nudibranch. There is also a direct observation of specimens feeding on a purple sponge at West Palm Beach, Florida, at approximately 4.5 m depth; the sponge was considered by Rudman to probably belong to the genus Chelonaplysilla, although this identification was not specifically confirmed. Reproduction in F. clenchi is documented through observations of its egg masses. Ortea, Valdés and Espinosa (1994) described the egg mass as a ribbon of eggs coiled in a spiral. The eggs are arranged in irregular rows between the two longitudinal margins of the ribbon; in the specimens examined, each vertical row could contain up to approximately 12 eggs. The eggs measured between 92.6 and 108.3 μm in length and between 86.1 and 93.5 μm in width, while the capsules measured approximately 105–119 μm. The marked colour polymorphism of the species has been related by Padula et al. (2016) to possible regional mimicry phenomena within the complex, although this interpretation concerns the evolution of colouration and does not imply active mimicry behaviour by the animal.

Etymology

Felimida. The exact origin of the generic name Felimida was not explained by Eveline Marcus when she established the genus in 1971. Johnson and Gosliner (2012) use the name Felimida for the lineage of Atlantic and eastern Pacific species that had previously been included in Chromodoris, but they do not provide an etymology for the genus. Some later sources have suggested a possible connection with “Felis”, referring to Eveline Marcus’s well-known fondness for cats, but this interpretation is not documented as Marcus’s original explanation.
Clenchi. In honor to Dr. William James Clench, (1897-1984), Curator of Molluscs between 1926-66 at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, USA. He founded (1941) and edited “Johnsonia” (named for Charles Willison Johnson). Although, Clench himself mainly was interested in freshwater and land molluscs, he also published rather much on marine molluscs and had several well-known students, who worked on marine fauna (Rehder, Tucker Abbott, Ruth Turner, Rosewater, Robert Robertson, etc.).

Distribution
The distribution that can currently be attributed with greatest confidence to Felimida clenchi is centred on the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic. It includes the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas, Florida, Bermuda, the Antilles and parts of the western Atlantic continental coast, with records extending from Central America and northern South America to Brazil. Published localities include Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Jamaica, Curaçao, the Cayman Islands, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Florida and Bermuda.

Some historical records should be treated with caution. Prior to the molecular revision by Padula et al. (2016), the boundaries between F. clenchi, F. binza, F. neona and F. britoi were based to a considerable extent on external colour patterns, which were subsequently shown to be highly variable and unreliable for species delimitation. Consequently, older records attributed to C. clenchi should be reassessed in the light of the taxonomic and molecular evidence provided by Padula et al. (2016).

Felimida clenchi should not currently be considered part of the Mediterranean fauna. Nevertheless, historical Mediterranean records explain why the species has occasionally been reported from the region. A particularly well-documented case is that of Ashqelon, Israel, where Mienis (1983) reported a specimen from the Mediterranean coast under the name Chromodoris clenchi. Ortea, Valdés and Espinosa (1994) subsequently re-examined this specimen and considered its external characters to correspond to C. britoi, although they noted that anatomical examination would be necessary for definitive confirmation. In the same revision, they assigned the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic populations to C. britoi, while restricting C. clenchi to the western Atlantic. This interpretation was subsequently maintained in the literature, and the CIESM atlas of exotic molluscs explicitly regarded the Mediterranean record published as Chromodoris clenchi as belonging to Chromodoris britoi Ortea & Pérez, 1983.

Historical records from the Azores present a similar taxonomic problem. Gosliner (1990) identified specimens from São Miguel as Chromodoris clenchi, with records from Mosteiros, Ponta da Pirámide and Ilhéu de Vila Franca. Cervera et al. (2004) subsequently included the Azores within the distribution of C. britoi, explicitly citing Gosliner (1990) as the original source. Later morphological and molecular studies, however, demonstrated that the eastern Atlantic form referred to as C. britoi belongs to the same lineage as F. binza. Padula et al. (2016) therefore treated F. britoi as a junior synonym of F. binza.

Accordingly, neither the historical Mediterranean records nor the Azorean records originally identified as C. clenchi should be regarded as evidence for the present-day occurrence of Felimida clenchi in these regions. Rather, they reflect the historical taxonomic confusion surrounding the F. clenchi species complex and, under the current interpretation, are attributable to Felimida binza.

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Abundance

Western Mediterranean:	☆☆☆☆☆
Eastern Mediterranean:	☆☆☆☆☆
Atlantic Ocean:	★★☆☆☆

Month

This chart displays the monthly observation probability for Felimida clenchi based on our own records.

More pictures

Felimida clenchi @ Lake Worth Lagoon, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA by Ariane Dimitris

Felimida clenchi (juveniles) @ Lake Worth Lagoon, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA by Ariane Dimitris

Felimida clenchi (juvenile 1mm) @ Lake Worth Lagoon, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA by Ariane Dimitris

Felimida clenchi @ Lake Worth Lagoon, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA by Ariane Dimitris

Bibliography

1246567 Felimida clenchi 1 eunomia-revista-en-cultura-de-la-legalidad 50 creator asc 1 22090 https://opistobranquis.info/wp-content/plugins/zotpress/

Steve Long, 2006

Bibliography of Opisthobranchia 1554-2000

Gary McDonald, 2009

Bibliographia Nudibranchia

Further reading

Cite this article as:

Pontes, Miquel, Manuel Ballesteros, Enric Madrenas (2025) "Felimida clenchi" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 17/05/2016. Accessed: 26/09/2026. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=22090)

Felimida clenchi