''Godiva quadricolor'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary t ...

, a nudibranch, a shell-less

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

in the family

Facelinidae The Facelinidae are a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of colorful sea slugs. These are specifically aeolid nudibranchs. They are marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs.Bouchet, P. (2012). Facelinidae. Accessed through: W ...

.Rosenberg, G. (2012)
''Godiva quadricolor''.
Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2012-06-05

Distribution

This species was described from St. James,

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It occurs on the

South African __NOTOC__ South African may relate to: * The nation of South Africa * South African Airways * South African English * South African people * Languages of South Africa * Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...

coast from the Cape Peninsula to East London, intertidally to 20 m. It has also been reported from the Mediterranean, off western Australia and West Africa.

Description

''Godiva quadricolor'' is a slender pale-bodied nudibranch with many cerata striped in bands of blue, yellow and orange. Its head is orange with rugose orange rhinophores and has a pair of orange oral tentacles with a white central stripe. Specimens from Western Australia differ significantly in colour and may represent another species.Willan, R.C. (1987) Phylogenetic systematics and zoogeography of Australian nudibranchs. 1. Presence of the aeolid ''Godiva quadricolor'' (Barnard) in Western Australia. Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia, 8: 71-85. Godiva Quadicolor Wes Australia

Ecology

''Godiva quadricolor'' preys on hydroids and on other nudibranchs. Its egg ribbon is a globular mass of white zigzags.

References

External link

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3772758 Facelinidae Gastropods described in 1927