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A peculiar eolid nudibranch showing an unknown chromatic array was found in a rocky bottom of Santa Maria al Bagno, in the Salento peninsula, Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea). This specimen, initially identified as Piseinotecus sp., was observed in situ and photographed while feeding and laying eggs close to individuals belonging to the Mediterranean Piseinotecus soussi. To assess the identity of this unexpected Piseinotecus ‘white morph’, a DNA identification approach was carried out using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), as it is the molecular marker mostly used to distinguish nudibranchs species. The molecular analysis unambiguously identified this specimen as Piseinotecus soussi and helped to shed lights on the striking intraspecific colour variability characterizing this rare species., Neobični primjerak eolidnog morskog puža stražnjoškržnjaka s dosad nezabilježenim obojenjem pronađen je na stjenovitom dnu lokaliteta Santa Maria al Bagno na poluotoku Salentu u Jonskom moru (središnje Sredozemno more). Ovaj primjerak, prvobitno identificiran kao Piseinotecus sp., promatran je i fotografiran dok se hranio i polagao jaja u blizini jedinki koje pripadaju sredozemnoj vrsti Piseinotecus soussi. Kako bi se otkrio identitet ovog neobičnog „bijelog oblika“ Piseinotecus sp. primjerka, provedena je identifikacija DNA pomoću mitohondrijske podjedinice citokrom c oksidaze I (COI), budući da je to molekularni marker koji se uglavnom koristi za razlikovanje vrsta stražnjoškržnjaka. Molekularna analiza nedvojbeno je identificirala ovaj primjerak kao Piseinotecus soussi i pomogla da se rasvijetli upečatljiva intraspecifična varijabilnost obojenja koja karakterizira ovu rijetku vrstu.

The Salento peninsula is a portion of the Italian mainland separating two distinct Mediterranean basins, the Ionian and the Adriatic seas. Several authors have studied the marine Heterobranchia (Mollusca, Gastropoda) fauna composition living in the Ionian Sea, but to date further knowledge regarding this interesting group of mollusks is still needed. Recent studies have corroborated the peculiarity of the Mediterranean Sea showing high levels of endemism and cryptic diversity. On the other hand, marine sea slugs have been revealed to be important indicators of the marine ecosystem&rsquo, s health, due to their species-specific diet that consist of a vast variety of sessile and benthic invertebrates. A baseline study of the marine Heterobranchia diversity is therefore a necessary step to reveal the hidden diversity and to monitor the possible presence of alien species. The present study shows results from approximately 600 scientific dives carried out during a nine-year period in all of the main submarine habitats of the studied area, while accounting for the marine Heterobranchia from both the Ionian and Adriatic Seas. With this contribution, the list of marine Heterobranchia inhabiting the Salento Peninsula rises to 160. Furthermore, it also reports, for the first time, the presence of one alien species and three new records for Italian waters. Ecological notes and geographical distribution for each added species are provided together with animal iconography, consisting mainly of in situ photographs, for species identification.

Dondice trainitoi sp. nov. (Figures 1 A - F) Zoobank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 5072B304-A2F2-4AB0-A0EF-6DF26EC0242B Holotype: MNHN IM-2000-33722, 10 mm in length, Riva di Traiano, Civitavecchia, Latium, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, August 03 2017, 28 m depth, 42��03���15������N, 11��47���45������E. Paratypes: paratype MNHN IM-2000-33723, 5 mm in length, Riva di Traiano, Civitavecchia, Latium, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, June 11 2016, 30 m depth; paratype MNHN IM-2000-33724, 5 mm long, Riva di Traiano, Civitavecchia, Latium, Italy, Mediterranean, June 04 2016, 32 m depth; paratype RM3 _1101, 8 mm in length; paratype RM3 _1102, 11 mm in length, Riva di Traiano, Civitavecchia, Latium, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, August 03 2017, 30 m depth; paratype RM3 _621, 16 mm in length, Riva di Traiano, Civitavecchia, Latium, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, August 25 2016, 30 m depth. All type material sampled at the ���Asia��� wreck on hydroids. Etymology: The species name is after Egidio Trainito, expert in nudibranch biology and Mediterranean marine biodiversity, underwater photographer and good friend of the authors. Holotype morphological description: The body is slender, with a narrow foot. The anterior part of the foot is bilabiate and extended into well-defined propodial tentacles. The elongate body is translucent cream, with bright white spots along the border of the foot, oral foot corners and tail. A characteristic iridescent light blue band is present on the tail, along the dorsum and the head where it bifurcates into two lines ending at the half part of the oral tentacles. Two other lateral lines of the same iridescent color are present dorsally, starting from the lateral part of the head below the rhinophores, becoming narrower and lighter through the body and terminating in the tail joining the dorsal band. A typical black pigment covering the mandibles is clearly visible through the epithelium. The cerata are translucent cream with a digestive gland that is yellowish in the basal portion but becoming gradually orange in the sub terminal part. The upper part of the cerata has a brightly yellowish ring larger in the anterior part than in the back where it is tapered. At the base of the rhinophores, the head is diaphanous, allowing the dark eyes to be seen (Figs 1A, C-E). The rhinophores are lamellate with ten dish-shaped annulations and end with a cylindrical tip (Fig. 1D). The basal portion and the narrow posterior furrow of the rhinophores are smooth. In their upper portion, there is a brightly white/yellowish stripe that is wider in the anterior than in the posterior part. The oral tentacles are longer than the rhinophores, cylindrical and slender with a bright band in the same color of the apical portion of the rhinophores. The notum showed four clusters of cerata composed by two rows, with the exception of the last group that has only one row of small cerata. There is one precardiac cluster with 22 cerata, two median groups with 16 and 14 cerata respectively, and the posterior one with a single row of 5 cerata. The cerata are slender and cylindrical, light orange, and with a yellow ring which is expanded in the front part and jointed in the rear (Fig. 1). The head is slender. The anus is cleioproct, located within the first post-hepatic arch. Internal anatomy: Three specimens, including the paratype MNHN IM- 2000-33724 (Fig. 1D), were examined. The masticatory jaws are covered with a typical black epithelium (Fig. 1E). The underlying chitinous jaws are visible from the muscular lips (Fig. 3A). These structures are pale yellowish and characterized by 16 well-developed, triangular denticles per each side (Figs 3 B-D). The radular formula is 8-12 x (0.1.0) (Figs 4 A-D). The rachidian tooth has a median cusp, bearing one denticle for each side, and it has 4-5 triangular denticles on each side of the cusp (Figs 4E, F). The reproductive system (Fig. 5) is diaulic. The genital openings are on the right side of the body, between the first and the second group of cerata (Fig. 5B). The long tubular ampulla runs the length of the female gland mass and the hermaphroditic duct then bifurcates into the oviduct and the vas deferens (Figs 5 D-F). The male gland terminates into the globular and unarmed penis (Fig. 5F). The penial bulb is smooth and muscular externally. The vagina is connected to an ovoidal receptaculum seminis and to the convoluted duct of the female gland mass. The female gland mass is white and complex, with a central rounded and a lateral tortuous mass (Fig. 5F). Distribution: Currently, this species is known from the Latium coast (Civitavecchia), type locality, and from Portofino Marine Protected Area (MPA) (Gulf of Genoa, Liguria) and Procida island (Naples, Campania) which are to date respectively the northernmost and the southernmost distribution sites. In particular, most of the findings took place on the ���Asia��� and the near ���Liburna��� wrecks, located near the harbour of Civitavecchia where this sea slug is really abundant (with a total of 15-20 individuals observed per each dive). Four years after the first finding in Civitavecchia, about seven individuals were observed from Portofino MPA, while only two specimens were photographed and collected from Procida Island. The specimens were found feeding on colonies of hydroids covering the artificial substrate, made of torn nets from fishing trawlers, wrapping both wrecks, or on colonies of hydroids in a Coralligenous rocky bottom, from June to early September. The geographic distributions of the species is reported in Figure 6. Remarks: The morphological variability shown by living animals (Fig. 1) consisted in the body length of the specimens (ranging from 8 to 15 mm), rhinophores with usually 10 or 12 (range 6-17) dish-shaped annulations and the notum with 4 or 5 clusters of cerata. The precardiac cluster of cerata could have up to 24 cerata, the two median clusters up to 18 cerata each one and the posterior one with a single row of maximum 6 cerata. The new species shows 15% mean p -distance at the COI with D. occidentalis and 18% with the Mediterranean D. banyulensis. It also differs morphologically from the three formerly known congeners (Table 3). Dondice trainitoi sp. nov. can be distinguished from D. banyulensis by the presence of the black pigment covering the jaws and forming two black patches clearly visible at the cephalic portion. The only other species which shares this very typical character is the D. occidentalis ��� sensu Marcus Er. ��� (1958), who described a specimen from Canan��ia (San Paolo, Brazil) which ��� ���differs from the Jamaican specimens in some details. The black pigmented epithelium covering the jaws of our species is very striking, even in living slugs, but apparently is wanting in the Jamaican material as Engel does not mention it. ��� (Marcus Er. 1958). Dondice occidentalis ��� sensu Marcus��� however, has ������a median red stripe along the head and a stripe along each side ��� (see the Brazilian specimen photographed by Lindner A. 2014, page 48) that clearly differs from the white ones characterizing D. trainitoi sp. nov. Dondice galaxiana is morphologically entirely different from D. trainitoi sp. nov., in fact it has rhinophores with large dish-shaped annulations, the cerata are clustered on raised cushions and its body has rhomboid-shaped patches on the dorsum between the cerata. These features are completely lacking in the new species. Dondice parguerensis is morphologically similar to D. occidentalis but differing from it for its particular diet which consists of Cassiopea sp. and by the epithelium covering the jaws that is brown amber (Brandon & Cutress 1985) and not dark or black as in D. occidentalis. Specimens of the new species were observed and photographed in situ feeding on a reddish/orange hydroid belonging to the family Campanulariidae Johnston, 1836. The egg mass is a white lace coiled around the hydroid (Fig. 1F). Interestingly, as known for other facelinid species, D. trainitoi sp. nov., when disturbed, autotomized its cerata to distract potential predators., Published as part of Furfaro, Giulia & Mariottini, Paolo, 2020, A new Dondice Marcus Er. 1958 (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) from the Mediterranean Sea reveals interesting insights into the phylogenetic history of a group of Facelinidae taxa, pp. 1-22 in Zootaxa 4731 (1) on pages 8-14, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4731.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3635551, {"references":["Brandon, M. & Cutress, C. E. (1985) A new Dondice (Opisthobranchia: Favorinidae), predator of Cassiopea in southwest Puerto Rico. Bulletin of Marine Science, 36, 139 - 144."]}

A single specimen of Tritoniopsis cincta was found and collected in the Marine Protected Area Tavolara Punta Coda Cavallo on the stolon of a colony of the alcyonacean Sarcodictyon catenatum (Forbes, 1847). This is the first finding of this rare nudibranch in the seas surrounding Sardinia (Italy). New acquisitions from unpublished data but available on the web greatly expand the distribution of the species, previously considered endemic to the Mediterranean Sea and limited to the western basin.

The geographic range of Piseinotecus soussi Tamsouri, Carmona, Moukrim & Cervera, 2014 is here updated, since it was found in two new localities along the Tyrrhenian coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, to confirm the identity of specimens recorded, a DNA barcoding approach was carried out using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) as it is the molecular marker mostly used in barcoding analysis in nudibranchs.

A single individual of Trapania pallida was recently found in the Ligurian sea (CentralMediterranean Sea) on a colony of the gorgoniid Leptogorgia sarmentosa (Esper, 1789). This is thefirst finding for Italian Seas confirming its presence, albeit extremely rare, in the MediterraneanSea. Furthermore, new additional data report evidences that Entoprocta are its favorite diet.

The record of the blue bottom Porpita porpita (Linnaeus, 1758) (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) in the Tyrrhenian Italian Sea (41°16’6.72’’N; 13°01’34.13’’E), is reported here for the first time. A single specimen was collected in the Latium (Central Italy) coast, and firstly identified on the base of its morphology (Fig.1). DNA barcoding analysis, with the use of the COI mitochondrial marker, unambiguously confirmed its identification (100% homologous to the Genbank sequence with accession number GQ120060). Additionally, the nuclear ITS2 genetic marker (Oliverio & Mariottini 2001) was used as a further barcoding sequence that revealed a high homology (ranging from 99 to 100%) with sequences already present in Genbank but which were, surprisingly, never assigned until now (Accession numbers: GU941198, GU941346, GU942419, KJ182875, KX113716, KX113680, KX115166, KX115168 and KX115212). The P. porpita COI and ITS2 nucleotide sequences were deposited at the EMBL/GenBank with the accession number LT795124 and LT795123, respectively (Voucher RM3_747). With this record the range of P. porpita within the Mediterranean basin is extended and furthermore, the use of the ITS2 as a valid DNA barcoder marker for this group, was here confirmed. This study represents a good example of an inverse molecular route for the identification of unassigned environmental samples (Lee et al. 2010).

The record of the Blue Button Porpita porpita (Linnaeus, 1758) (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) in the Tyrrhenian Italian Sea (41°16'06.72" N, 13°01'34.13" E), is reported here for the first time. A single specimen was collected in the Latium (Central Italy) coast, and firstly identified on the base of its morphology (Fig.1). DNA barcoding analysis, with the use of the COI mitochondrial marker, unambiguously confirmed its identification (100 % homologous to the GenBank sequence with accession number GQ 120060). Additionally, the nuclear ITS2 genetic marker (Oliverio & Mariottini 2001) was used as a further barcoding sequence that revealed a high homology (ranging from 99 to 100 %) with sequences already present in GenBank but which were, surprisingly, never assigned until now (accession numbers: GU941198, GU941346, GU942419, KJ182875, KX113716, KX113680, KX115166, KX115168 and KX115212). The P. porpita COI and ITS2 nucleotide sequences were deposited at the EMBL/ GenBank with the accession number LT795124 and LT795123, respectively (voucher RM3_747). With this record the range of P. porpita within the Mediterranean basin is extended and furthermore, the use of the ITS2 as a valid DNA barcode marker for this group was here confirmed. This study represents a good example of an inverse molecular route for the identification of unassigned environmental samples (Lee et al. 2010).

Furfaro, Giulia, De Matteo, Sergio, Mariottini, Paolo, Giacobbe, Salvatore (2018): Ecological notes of the alien species Godiva quadricolor (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) occurring in Faro Lake (Italy). Journal of Natural History 52 (11-12): 645-657, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2018.1445788, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2018.1445788

The two species names were inverted on page 314 under Conculsions section. The sentence should read as: On the basis of the integrative taxonomy approach here presented, we formally propose to raise the two traditionally recognized colour morphotypes, D. luteocincta var. reticulata and D. luteocincta var. alba, to species rank as Diaphorodoris luteocincta and D. alba stat. nov. respectively.

Furfaro, Giulia, Picton, Bernard, Martynov, Alexander, Mariottini, Paolo (2016): Diaphorodoris alba Portmann & Sandmeier, 1960 is a valid species: molecular and morphological comparison with D. luteocincta (M. Sars, 1870) (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia). Zootaxa 4193 (2): 304-316, DOI: http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4193.2.6

The aeolid nudibranch Caloria elegans (Facelinidae) is quite common in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean and is easily recognized by the presence of a typical black spot at the apical portion of its cerata. Facelina quatrefagesi (Facelinidae) was long considered as a synonym of C. elegans until recently, when it was re-evaluated as a valid species based mainly on rhinophore morphology. In order to definitively assess the status of these aeolid taxa, we employed an integrative taxonomy approach using the nuclear H3 and the two mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I and 16S markers. The molecular analyses clearly showed that, although morphologically closely related to C. elegans, F. quatrefagesi is a valid species., El nudibranquio aeolido Caloria elegans (Facelinidae) es común en el Mediterráneo y en el noreste Atlántico siendo fácilmente reconocido por la presencia de una típica mancha negra en la porción apical de los ceratos. Facelina quatrefagesi (Facelinidae) por mucho tiempo ha sido considerado como un sinónimo de C. elegans hasta hace poco cuando ha sido reconsiderada como especie válida basándose principalmente en la morfología de los rinóforos. Para asignar definitivamente el estado de estos taxones aeolidos, hemos utilizado un enfoque de taxonomía integrada, usando los marcadores moleculares H3 (nuclear), COI y 16S (mitocondriales). Los análisis moleculares han mostrado claramente que F. quatrefagesi, aunque morfológicamente sea muy parecido a C. elegans, es una especie válida.

The Flabellinidae Bergh, 1889 is one of the largest families of aeolid nudibranchs, but its systematics is far from being completely elucidated. Morphological analyses have been carried out to assess the evolutionary history of flabellinids (Gosliner & Kuzirian, 1990; Gosliner & Willan, 1991), while molecular analyses have mainly focused on a few species in the frame of more general systematic and phylogenetic works on other aeolids groups (Carmona et al., 2011; 2013). We inferred the phylogeny of Flabellinidae based on DNA sequence data from two mitochondrial (COI and 16S) and two nuclear (H3 and ITS2) genes. While several studies on mollusks suggest that the nuclear marker ITS2 (ribosomal RNA internal transcribed spacer 2) is promising for phylogenetic and taxonomic inference (Oliverio et al., 2002; Salvi et al., 2012), this DNA region has never been used in nudibranch studies. Overall, results from molecular data analyses, suggest that the use of some morphological characters for Flabellinidae diagnosis needs to be re-evaluated. In fact, data support that two Piseinotecidae species are better relocated within Flabellinidae. In addition molecular analysis also revealed the occurrence of two taxonomic units within Flabellina ischitana. Finally, the combined information of sequence and secondary structure of the ITS2 region revealed to be a powerful tool for DNA barcoding. This work may be an important basis for future research on Flabellinidae phylogenetics and systematics.