''Hypselodoris iba'' is a species of sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a

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 Chromodorididae. It has previously been confused with ''

Hypselodoris bullocki ''Hypselodoris bullockii'' is a species of colourful sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae. ''Hypselodoris bullockii'' is quite pale purple in colour. It has been mistaken for a number of other sp ...

''.

Distribution

This nudibranch was described from depth at Aphol’s Reef, Tingloy, Maricaban Island, Batangas, Philippines, . It is also reported from Indonesia.

Description

''Hypselodoris iba'' has previously been confused with ''

'' although DNA sequencing suggests that it is a mimic rather than a close relative. It has a range of colour forms. Typically it has a violet semi-translucent body with a bright opaque white margin to the mantle. The violet colouration can be absent and replaced by milky white or present just as a more intense inner border to the mantle. In these pale colour forms there is usually a brown patch in the middle of the back, edged with violet. The gills are pale at the base becoming orange or brown towards the tips. The rhinophores have orange or brown clubs and usually have purple bases. A characteristic which distinguishes this species from similar coloured species in the ''Hypselodoris bullocki'' clade is that the mantle behind the gills is quite abruptly narrowed and contain a concentration of subcutaneous defensive glands. This species can reach a total length of at least 70 mm.Gosliner, T.M., Behrens, D.W. & Valdés, Á., 2018. ''Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification - Indo-Pacific.'' New World Publications; 2nd Revised, Updated edition. 452 pp. , , p. 188

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q60524319 Chromodorididae Gastropods described in 2018