California Blue Dorid
Felimare californiensis (Bergh, 1879)
Description 2
Ground color rich dark ultramarine blue, margins of dorsum and foot bright cobalt blue; dorsum bears numerous round to oblong spots of bright yellow-orange, frequently in lateral series on either side of dorsum and more irregularly placed posterior of branchial plumes. Sides of body bear about 10 round to oval spots of bright yellow-orange. Rhinophores very dark blue, with about 17-20 lamellae. Branchial plumes 9-12, usually unipinnate, very dark blue. Labial tentacles digitiform.
Size 2
Up to 90mm in length, but typically about half that length.
Geographic Range 2
Monterey Bay, CA to Bahía de la Paz, Baja California, Mexico.
Notes 2
Found in the low, rocky intertidal, and subtidal to 31 meters. Extremely rare in Monterey Bay area, MacFarland (1966:162) says: "Taken by MacFarland at Monterey Bay, Carmel, and La Jolla, 1909, 1946; by Weymouth, Monterey Bay, 1908."
References 2
GODDARD, J. H. R., M. C. SCHAEFER, C. HOOVER, & Á. VALDÉS. 2013. Regional extinction of a conspicuous dorid nudibranch (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in California. Marine Biology 160(6):1497-1510. PDF
GOSLINER, T. M., & R. F. JOHNSON. 1999 Phylogeny of Hypselodoris (Nudibranchia: Chromodorididae) with a review of the monophyletic clade of Indo-Pacific species, including descriptions of twelve new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 125(1):1-114. PDF
JOHNSON, R. F., & T. M. GOSLINER. 2012. Traditional taxonomic groupings mask evolutionary history: A molecular phylogeny and new classification of the chromodorid nudibranchs. PLoS ONE 7(4):e33479. . [15 pp.]. PDF
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, pls. 1-72. PDF
McDONALD, G. R. 1983. A review of the nudibranchs of the California coast. Malacologia 24(1-2):114-276. PDF
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF MARINE INVERTEBRATE TAXONOMISTS. 2018. A taxonomic listing of benthic macro- and megainvertebrates from infaunal & epibenthic monitoring and research programs in the southern California bight, edition 12, 1 July 2018, xviii + 167 pp. PDF
Synonyms 2
Chromodoris californiensis, Glossodoris californiensis, Hypselodoris californiensis, Chromodoris universitatis Cockerell, 1901.
Additional Info 2
Sources and Credits
- (c) Gary McDonald, all rights reserved, uploaded by Gary McDonald
- (c) Gary McDonald, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
More Info
iNat Map
| Body | doridiform |
|---|---|
| Classification | Doridina |
| Dorsum | smooth |
| Labial tentacles | digitiform |
| Rhinophores | perfoliate |
