The white-ridged nudibranch, ''Dermatobranchus'' sp. 1, as designated by Gosliner, 1987, 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 ...

of nudibranch. It is 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 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 ...

Arminidae. As at November 2009, it remained undescribed by science.

Distribution

This species has to date only been found off

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 ...

, from the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula to Port Elizabeth, in 10–15 m of water. It appears to be

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Description

The white-ridged nudibranch is a small nudibranch, reaching 20 mm in total length. It is pale-bodied with opaque white ridges running down the length of the body. Its rhinophores are set close together on its head and are oval with longitudinal ridges.ZSILAVECZ, G. 2007. ''Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay''.

Ecology

The white-ridged nudibranch feeds on

soft coral Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7994357 Arminidae Undescribed gastropod species