Goniobranchus cavae
species of mollusc
Goniobranchus cavae is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.
Distribution
This species was described from Zanzibar, Tanzania. It has been reported from the NE coast of South Africa, Réunion, Mauritius and India. However the colour pattern is very variable and this may represent a species complex.
Description
The description of the external appearance of the animal by Eliot reads: "Colour yellowish white, with indefinite large drab blotches laterally. Edges of mantle and foot bordered with light violet. On the back are black spots surrounded by a white line and also irregular dull orange spots. The foot is not very broad, white in colour, with a row of dull orange spots and black spots below them. The tip and anterior side of the rhinophores are purple; the lamellae are reduced to fine striations."
Similar species
This species has been confused with Goniobranchus tennentanus but differs in having yellow spots all over the mantle, whilst in G. tennentanus these spots are only within the cream band at the edge.
The public source identifies “Goniobranchus cavae” as species of mollusc. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Goniobranchus, cavae and species.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q13645393. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Goniobranchus cavae” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.