Home Guide to Opisthobranchs Nudibranchia Doridina Doridoidei Doridoidea Felimare gasconi

Felimare gasconi

Felimare gasconi (Ortea in Ortea, Valdés & García-Gómez, 1996)

Felimare gasconi 15mm @ San Teodoro, Capo Coda Cavallo, may 1994 in 3m by Mauro Doneddu

Taxonomy
 

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

Miamirinae  

 

Genus

Felimare  

 

Species

Felimare gasconi  (Ortea, 1996)

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 597822).

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.

Synonyms

  • Hypselodoris gasconi Ortea, 1996

Description
Animal with dark blue body, with a line that runs along the notum edge, coloured yellow-orange on the sides and white on the front and back of the mantle. It has three dorsal white lines parallel to each other, the middle line can be continuous or fragmented, and is thicker than the lateral lines, which can also be continuous or fragmented, or even may not be straight or not even present. The middle line surrounds the gill and continues a little further towards the back. The sides are crossed by a very thin white line that passes under the genital opening, without surrounding it. This species is characterized by having defensive structures called Mantle Dermal Formations (MDF); these are placed next to the rhinophores (between 1 and 5, usually 2-3) and behind the gill (up to 11, usually 5-7). The tail has a triangular shape, protrudes from the back of the dorsum and has a white line along the middle dorsal side. The rhinophores are blue, with the upper end of the rachis stained in white and have about six blue lamellae.

Biology
Food source for this species is unknown, although the other species of the genus feed on sponges and probably this species does so as well. The analysis of the defensive substances of the MDF (presence of longifoline) suggests that it feeds on sponges of the genus Dysidea (Ávila, 1993). The variable design pattern of the dorsal lines creates confusion with other species of the genus, but they can be told appart because Felimare gasconi has the edge of the mantle coloured intense orange and lacks the fine light blue lines between the lateral white lines and the border of the mantle that appear in the juveniles of Felimare fontandraui. Also the large amount of MDFs present in the back of the mantle is a characteristic trait.

Etymology

  • Gasconi.  In honor to Dr. Santiago Gascón Muñoz (1939-1996), who was Rector of the University of Oviedo between 1992 and 1996.

Distribution
This species has only been reported in the Western basin of the Mediterranean Sea and in the Adriatic Sea.

Known georeferenced records of the species: Felimare gasconi
Sources:
: OBIS
: GROC 2010-2011
: Enric Madrenas
: João Pedro Silva
: Bernard Picton
: GBIF.ORG		 : OPK
: VIMAR
: Manuel Ballesteros.
: M@re Nostrum
: Altres fonts
: Marine Regions

Abundance

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

This chart displays the monthly observation probability for Felimare gasconi based on our own records.

More pictures

Felimare gasconi 15mm @ San Teodoro, Capo Coda Cavallo, may 1994 in 3m by Mauro Doneddu
Felimare gasconi 20mm @ Comino Island, Malta 4m 11-07-2018 by Holger Domnick
Felimare gasconi 20mm @ Comino Island, Malta 4m 11-07-2018 by Holger Domnick
Felimare gasconi @ Sicily, Italy by Lara Orselli
Felimare gasconi @ Sicily, Italy by Lara Orselli

Bibliography

    Ballesteros M, Madrenas E, Pontes M. 2025. OPK - Opistobranquis. Available from https://opistobranquis.info/.
    Johnson RF, Gosliner TM. 2012. Traditional Taxonomic Groupings Mask Evolutionary History: A Molecular Phylogeny and New Classification of the Chromodorid Nudibranchs. PLoS ONE. 7(4).
    Long SJ. 2006. Bibliography of Opisthobranchia 1554-2000. Bayside Books & Press, Tustin, CA, U.S.A. 672p.
    McDonald G. 2009. Bibliographia Nudibranchia. 2nd Online Edition, Annotated. 1072 pp  Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz. Available from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8115h0wz.
    Ortea JA, Valdés A, García-Gómez JC. 1996. Revisión de las especies atlánticas de la familia Chromodorididae (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) del grupo cromático azul. Avicennia.(edition: suplemento 1):1–165.
    Rudman W.B. et al. 1998 2010. Felimare gasconi accessed through: Sea Slug Forum on 2014-12-14. Available from http://seaslugforum.net/showall/hypsgasc.
    Trainito E, Doneddu M. 2014. Nudibranchi del Mediterraneo. 2nd. Il Castello. 192 p.
    Trainito E, Trainito S. 2003. Mediterranean harlequins : a field guide to Mediterranean sea slugs. Olbia (SS), Italia: Taphros.
    WoRMS Editorial Board. 2025. World Register of Marine Species. WoRMS. Available from http://www.marinespecies.org.

    Bibliography based on the works by Steve Long, 2006. Bibliography of Opisthobranchia 1554-2000 and Gary McDonald, 2009. Bibliographia Nudibranchia, with later updates from other resources.

Further reading

Cite this article as:

Ballesteros, M., Madrenas, E. & Pontes, M. (2012-2025) "Felimare gasconi" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 02/09/2014. Accessed: 03/02/2025. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=13344)