''Murphydoris'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

s, specifically

dorid ''Doridacea'' is a taxonomic grouping of dorid nudibranchs, shell-less marine gastropod mollusks.Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.); Frýda J., Hausdorf B., Ponder W., Valdes A. & Warén A. 2005''Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families ...

nudibranchs,

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 ...

s in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Goniodorididae Goniodorididae are a taxonomic family of sea slugs, specifically dorid nudibranchs, marine gastropod molluscs in the order Opisthobranchia. Genera Genera in the family Goniodorididae include: * '' Ancula'' Lovén, 1846 * ''Goniodoris ''Goniod ...

Genus description

''Murphydoris singaporensis'' Sigurdsson, 1991 is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the monotypic genus ''Murphydoris''. The generic name ''Murphydoris'' was created to honor the zoologist and

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

D. H. Murphy, who is on the staff at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

. The characteristics of the genus ''Murphydoris'' is, that it lacks peri-anal ctenidia (comb-like respiratory gills); its rhinophores are non-lamellate and its

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...

formula is n x 1.1.0.1.1. The lateral teeth are unicuspid (= with a single tapering point) with 12 denticles and the marginal teeth are bicuspid.

Distribution

The type locality for ''Murphydoris singaporensis'' is mangroves between Kranji and

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve The Sungei Buloh Wetland Reservoir (Chinese: 双溪布洛湿地保护区, Malay: ''Kawasan Simpanan Alam Semulajadi Sungei Buloh'', Tamil: சுங்காய் புலோ ஈரநில வளம்) is a nature reserve in the northwest a ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Species description

''Murphydoris singaporensis'' was firstly collected by Jon B. Sigurdsson, and was described as a new species in 1991. This is a small nudibranch with a body length of 5 mm and a body width of 2 mm. It was found along the coast of Singapore, between colonies of the bryozoan '' Sundanella sibogae'' (order Ctenostomatida). In this animal, the

mantle A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: *Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear **Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...

is colorless and translucent, showing the colors of the internal organs. The surface of the mantle shows irregular dark reddish-brown blotches. Behind the rhinophores there is a large

horse shoe A horseshoe is a fabricated product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toe ...

shaped spot. There are no mantle papillae in front of the non-lamellate, non-retractile rhinophores. The mantle ridge is situated at either side of the anus and is reduced to three pairs of bifid

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s. Its penis is armed with many spines. It lays its spawn in loose white coils. When these nudibranchs respond to a threat, they adopt a defensive posture: they flatten their body allowing numerous spicules to penetrate through the body wall, so that the nudibranch assumes the aspect of a hedgehog, covered in spines. The numerous glands on the body wall also probably contribute to the effectiveness of this defensive posture.

Species

* '' Murphydoris adusta'' Paz-Sedano, Smirnoff, Candás, Gosliner & Pola, 2022 * '' Murphydoris cobbi'' Paz-Sedano, Smirnoff, Candás, Gosliner & Pola, 2022 * '' Murphydoris maracabranchia'' Paz-Sedano, Smirnoff, Candás, Gosliner & Pola, 2022 * '' Murphydoris puncticulata'' Paz-Sedano, Smirnoff, Candás, Gosliner & Pola, 2022 * '' Murphydoris singaporensis'' Sigurdsson, 1991 Other species have been tentatively placed in ''Murphydoris'', but have not yet been named and are undescribed species:McDonald, Gary R. (2009)
''Nudibranch Systematic Index, second edition''
UC Santa Cruz: Institute of Marine Sciences. Accessed 19 December 2009. * ''Murphydoris'' sp. 1 Marshall & Willan, 1999 - this is a small species (about 0.5 cm long) living amongst

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

along the coast of New South Wales, Australia. Its color is yellow-white with black spots and orange ridges. The rhinophores and gills have the same color but have white tips. * ''Murphydoris'' sp. “GBR Murphydoris” Coleman, 2001 * ''Murphydoris'' sp. 1 Cobb & Willan, 2006 * ''Murphydoris'' sp. “Black’s Murphydoris” Coleman, 2008 * ''Murphydoris'' sp. 1 Debelius & Kuiter, 2007

References

External links

Photo of Murphydoris sp. 1

Paz-Sedano, S., Smirnoff, D., Candás, M., Gosliner, T.M. & Pola, M. (2022). Rediscovering the overlooked genus Murphydoris (Nudibranchia: Goniodorididae): the first phylogeny and addition of four new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab122.
* {{Use dmy dates, date=May 2017 Goniodorididae