The end of a long controversy: Systematics of the genus Limenandra (Mollusca: Nudibranchia: Aeolidiidae)

Abstract

Limenandra Haefelfinger and Stamm 1958 is a small genus within the Aeolidiidae with, until this paper, only two species: Limenandra nodosa Haefelfinger and Stamm 1958 and Limenandra fusiformis Baba 1949. Although most recent authors have regarded Limenandra as a junior synonym of Baeolidia Bergh 1888, recent molecular studies have demonstrated its monophyletic status and have rejected the circumtropical distribution attributed to the type species, L. nodosa. The present paper reviews the previously known species of Limenandra with additional morphological data and describes three new species: Limenandra barnosii sp. nov. and Limenandra rosanae sp. nov. from the Indo-Pacific are easily distinguished from all other Limenandra species by their vivid and bright colour patterns, while Limenandra confusa sp. nov., also from the Indo-Pacific, is very similar to the Atlantic and Mediterranean L. nodosa. The five species differ in colouration, the size and ornamentation of the cerata, the rhinophorial papillae, details of the reproductive system and the number of salivary glands. Additionally, Limenandra can be easily distinguished from other Aeolidiidae based on differences in the radular and receptaculum seminis morphology. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg and AWI.