Halgerda batangas is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of sea slug

Slug

Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...

, a dorid nudibranch

Nudibranch

A nudibranch is a member of what is now a taxonomic clade, and what was previously a suborder, of soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusks which shed their shell after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms...

, a shell-less marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 gastropod mollusk in the family Discodorididae

Discodorididae

Discodorididae is a taxonomic family of sea slugs, specifically dorid nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Doridoidea. Species in this family belong to the cryptobranch dorid nudibranchs, i.e. they are able to retract their gills into a gill pocket . Most are small and hard to...

.

Distribution

This species is found in the tropical western Pacific, including: Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

, Mabul

Mabul

Mabul is a small island off the south-eastern coast of Sabah in Malaysia. The island has been a fishing village since 1970s. Then in 1990s, it first became popular to divers due to its proximity to Sipadan island....

, New Britain

New Britain

New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...

, the Davao Gulf

Davao Gulf

Davao Gulf is a gulf found in Mindanao in the Philippines. It has an area of 308,000 hectares. Davao Gulf cuts into the island of Mindanao from Celebes Sea. It is surrounded by all four provinces in the Davao Region. The largest island in the gulf is Samal Island. Davao City, on the gulf's west...

, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

, Sulawesi

Sulawesi

Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

, Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...

 and Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

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Description

This animal is one of a group of mainly white species of Halgerda with orange markings. It is characterized by a network of fine, solid, red-orange lines on the mantle. It has a white band around the mantle containing low rounded orange-capped tubercles. The mantle tubercles range in size from small rounded bumps to tall, prominent structures.

Further reading

• Bertsch, H. & Johnson, S. (1982) Three new species of dorid nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) from the Hawaiian Islands. The Veliger, 24(3): 208-218.
• Carlson, C.H. & Hoff, P.J. (1993) Three new Halgerda species (Doridoidea: Nudibranchia: Opisthobranchia) from Guam. The Veliger, 36(1): 16-26.
• Carlson, C.H. & Hoff, P.J. (2000) Three new Pacific species of Halgerda (Opisthobranchia: Nudibranchia: Doridoidea). The Veliger, 43(2): 154-163.

External links

Sea slug forum

Halgerda batangas at nudipixel