''Phyllidiopsis xishaensis'' 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 dorid 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 ...

mollusk 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 e ...

in the family

Phyllidiidae Phyllidiidae is a family of sea slugs, dorid nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Phyllidioidea. This family is within the clade Doridacea (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). Distributi ...

. Frequently misidentified as '' Phyllidiopsis striata'' but that species has been shown to be a completely different animal, a ''Phyllidiella''.Yonow N. (2012) Opisthobranchs from the western Indian Ocean, with descriptions of two new species and ten new records (Mollusca, Gastropoda). ZooKeys 197: 1–129. 2 May 2012 available online at https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.197.1728

Distribution

This species was described from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It has been reported from

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Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

, the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and the

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.Rudman, W.B., 1999 (August 1
''Phyllidiopsis striata'' Bergh, 1888.
n/nowiki> Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.

Description

This nudibranch has a blue-white dorsum with four longitudinal black lines interspersed with raised ridges. It is a small Phyllidiid, growing to about 20 mm in length. There are sometimes black spots in the region between the outer black lines and the edge of the mantle. The rhinophores are lemon coloured or white. It is similar to '' Phyllidiopsis annae'' except for the colour of the rhinophores, which are black in that species. '' Phyllidiopsis phiphiensis'' is also similar but has three instead of four longitudinal black lines on the mantle.

Diet

This species feeds on a sponge.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q14094967 Phyllidiidae Gastropods described in 1983