A Comparative Study of the Genus Philinopsis Pease, 1860 (Aglajidae, Opisthobranchia)

Abstract

ABSTRACT: A comparative study of Philinopsis gigliolii (Tapparone-Canefri, 1874); P. speciosa Pease, 1860; P. taronga (Allan, 1933); P. virgo (Rudman, 1968); P. troubridgensis (Verco, 1909); P. pilsbryi (Eliot, 1900); P. gardineri (Eliot, 1903); P. cyanea (Martens, 1879) indicates that they should be grouped in a separate genus, Philinopsis Pease, 1860, of the Aglajidae. The following taxonomic revision is suggested: P. taronga (Allan, 1933) = Chelidonttra aureopunctata Rudman, 1968; Philinopsis cyanea (Martens, 1879) = Doridium capense Bergh, 1907 = Aglaja iwasai Hirase, 1936; and Philinopsis gardineri (Eliot, 1903) = Chelidonura velutina Bergh, 1905, in part. It is also suggested that two senior synonyms of Philinopsis pilsbryi (Eliot, 1900), P. nigra Pease, 1860, and Doridium alboventralis Bergh, 1897, should be considered nomina oblita under Article 23 (b) of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. The reproductive system in which the spermoviduct is unbranched and does not open into the albumen gland is a major characteristic of the genus.