Godiva rachelae   Rudman, 1980

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This species has been observed on Réunion Island


Order : Nudibranchia
Suborder : Dexiarchia
Superfamily : Aeolidioidea
Family : Facelinidae
Distribution : Indo West Pacific
Maximal size : 40 mm
Abundance :


Species characteristics :

The head of the animal is a watery orange with fine deeper orange speckling and a pair of bright orange lines on each side of the head.
    Cerata with orange, reddish, pinkish purple or blue-purple and white or yellowish bands
    The rhinophores are a watery orange colour with a millky yellow tip. They are long and tapering, appearing slightly wrinkled and annulate.
   The oral tentacles are long and slender
   The foot is translucent white with white patches.

godiva rachelae
Showing species characteristics...

Photo Sully Bachel
Reunion, Grande Chaloupe, 10 m, 28 February 2010, size : 20-25 mm

See more about : Sightening and mating periods
   See more about : Godiva rachelae variability in Southwest Indian ocean

Remarks :

Identification confirmed by Nathalie Yonow
   Important variation in the colour pattern of our specimens
    Synonymous : (according Worms)
               - No other name

Bibliographic data :

The digestive gland appears reddish orange or brownish where masked by the orange ceratal wall, but is a reddish, pinkish purple or blue-purple in the transparent section, the distal part of the digestive gland being usually a particularly intense purple.
    The oral tentacles are long and slender The proximal half of the oral tentacle is a pinkish-purple, except for a patch of millky yellow on the dorsal side. The distal half of the oral tentacle is milky yellow.
    The foot is a little wider than the body and at the anterior end the foot corners are long and tapered
    On each side, from just behind the oral tentacles, a band of milky yellow to white runs below the cerata to the posterior end of the body. Between each ceratal arch, this yellow band widens. The rest of the body is a pale, watery orange, with a series of markings down the dorsal mid-line
    The foot is translucent white with white patches. The leading edge of the foot and foot corners are milky yellow, and the distal half of the tail is a watery purple.

Egg masses were laid in the aquarium on large hydroid colonies. They form a large, tangled tubular chain of segments containing white eggs. Each segment is approximatively 3 mm long.
    Animal was found on the hydroid Eudendrium cf. carneum .
    When disturbed it can erect its cerata .
    Godiva rachelae agrees in all features with the type-species of the genus, Godiva quadricolor. It differs from that species in morphology, detailed shape of the radular teeth and distribution
           - G. quadricolor is part of Sth Africa's coldwater endemic fauna while G. rachelae seems to have a tropical Indo-West Pacific distribution.
           - G. quadricolor have shorter cerata, and the ceratal clusters have more cerata than G. rachelae
           - G. quadricolor have large blue lines on the oral tetacle which are absent in G. rachelae
    This species is name after Rudman 's daughter, Rachel Elizabeth, born 6 March 1977

References :

Bill Rudman Seaslug site : Sea Slug Forum : Godiva rachelae
   Nudipixel Godiva rachelae

Publications :

Rudman, W.B. (1980). Opisthobranch molluscs (Glaucidae) from the Indian Ocean and the south-west Pacific. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 68(2) , 139-172

Other photos of Godiva rachelae :


Alain Diringer

Reunion, Cap la Houssye, 6 December 2009

The rhinophores are orange with a millky yellow tip. They are long and tapering, appearing slightly annulated.

The digestive gland appears reddish orange where masked by the orange ceratal wall, but is a blue-purple in the transparent section.

A specimen with an intense coloration of the cerata


Monika Bachel

Reunion, La Possession, 7m, 21 May 2009, size 15 mm

2 specimens observed

The foot is translucent white with white patches (a).

The rhinophores are a watery orange colour with a millky yellow tip (b). They are long and tapering, appearing slightly annulated (c).


Sully Bachel
Reunion, Ravine à Jacques, 4 April 2010

The digestive gland appears reddish orange (a) where masked by the orange ceratal wall, but is a reddish or pinkish purple (b) in the transparent section.


Sully Bachel

Reunion, La Possession, 7 m, 21 May 2009, size 7-8 mm

A juvenile...


Christophe Cadet

Réunion, Etang salé, on the rocky coast, less 1 m, 30 November 2010,

With its spawn, on a Padina

A spawning events...

A specimen with an intense coloration of the cerata

 


Sully Bachel

Reunion, Ravine à Jacques, La Possession, 10 m, 15 August 2010, size : 20 mm

The digestive gland appears reddish orange (a) where masked by the orange ceratal wall, but is a reddish or pinkish purple (b) in the transparent section.


Maurice Jay

Réunion, a few years ago....

The leading edge of the foot and foot corners (a) are milky yellow

 

A specimen with an intense coloration of the cerata

 


 More photos from Indian Ocean

See more about : Godiva rachelae variability in Southwest Indian ocean

Reunion, Godiva rachelae, at La Possession, by Monika Bachel

Reunion, juvenile of Godiva rachelae (5mm), at Etang salé, by Christophe Cadet