Godiva Quadricolor (Barnard, 1927) (Nudibranchia: Facelinidae) Spreads into Southern Queensland

Abstract

The aeolid nudibranch Godiva quadricolor (Barnard, 1927), previously recorded as introduced into southern Western Australia (i.e., the Fremantle-Cockburn Sound area) and now probably naturalised there, is herein recorded from southern Queensland (i.e., Pumicestone Passage, immediately north of the Port of Brisbane), where a breeding population is presently established. The most likely source of both introductions is shipping. Godiva quadricolor originally extended naturally through (tropical) eastern and (temperate) south-eastern Africa, so its further spread around the Australian continent seems inevitable. This paper records the characters important for recognition of this species, corrects the author 's earlier account of the morphology of the rhinophores, and describes intraspecific variation, particularly that relating to coloration o f the head and cerata. Godiva rachaelae Rudman, 1980 is formally synonymised with G quadricolor. Godiva quadricolor is now recorded as introduced in southern Western Australia, eastern Australia (herein), north-western Africa and the Mediterranean Sea, but it has never occurred naturally in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.