Jonathan Hsieh
Info
Hypselodoris festiva (A. Adams, 1861)
The scientific name can lead to confusion because there are 2 of them. Taxonomy Hypselodoris festiva (Adams, 1861), described as Doriprismatica festiva, is considered a valid name and is distinct from the species Hypselodoris festiva (Angas, 1864) (Rudman, 1983), which, however, is a species of Mexichromis.
Hypselodoris festiva is characterized by the uniform blue ground color, a central yellow line (usually continuous), and a series of yellow spots or stripes forming a line behind the rhinophores on each side of the mantle. The mantle has a thin, irregular yellow border, and the rhinophore club and gills are edged in orange. The yellow-blue star snail grows up to 30 mm long. There appear to be two color forms, one with and one without black dots, and various variations in detail.
The magnificent star snail has already been found at shallow depths (0.3m) in tidal pools, where it fed on the sponge Halichondria okadai. Other types of sponge probably belong to the food spectrum. This has not yet been clarified with certainty.
Synonymised names:
Chromodoris festiva (A. Adams, 1861) · unaccepted
Chromodoris marenzelleri Bergh, 1882 · unaccepted
Doriprismatica festiva A. Adams, 1861 · unaccepted (original combination)
Glossodoris festiva (A. Adams, 1861) · unaccepted
The scientific name can lead to confusion because there are 2 of them. Taxonomy Hypselodoris festiva (Adams, 1861), described as Doriprismatica festiva, is considered a valid name and is distinct from the species Hypselodoris festiva (Angas, 1864) (Rudman, 1983), which, however, is a species of Mexichromis.
Hypselodoris festiva is characterized by the uniform blue ground color, a central yellow line (usually continuous), and a series of yellow spots or stripes forming a line behind the rhinophores on each side of the mantle. The mantle has a thin, irregular yellow border, and the rhinophore club and gills are edged in orange. The yellow-blue star snail grows up to 30 mm long. There appear to be two color forms, one with and one without black dots, and various variations in detail.
The magnificent star snail has already been found at shallow depths (0.3m) in tidal pools, where it fed on the sponge Halichondria okadai. Other types of sponge probably belong to the food spectrum. This has not yet been clarified with certainty.
Synonymised names:
Chromodoris festiva (A. Adams, 1861) · unaccepted
Chromodoris marenzelleri Bergh, 1882 · unaccepted
Doriprismatica festiva A. Adams, 1861 · unaccepted (original combination)
Glossodoris festiva (A. Adams, 1861) · unaccepted
