Hypselodoris regina is a conspicuous species of sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae.MolluscaBase (2018). Hypselodoris regina Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1970. Accessed on 2019-01-20.
Distribution This nudibranch was described from one specimen collected at Nosy Tanikely, south of Nosy Be, Madagascar amongst coral at 2 m depth. It has been reported from South Africa,Gosliner, T.M., Behrens, D.W. & Valdés, Á. (2008) Indo-Pacific nudibranchs and sea slugs: a field guide to the world’s most diverse fauna. Sea Challengers Natural History Books, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, 426 pp. TanzaniaRudman, W.B. (1977) Chromodorid opisthobranch Mollusca from East Africa and the tropical West Pacific. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 61: 351-397 and Mozambique.Tibiriçá, Y.; Pola, M.; Cervera, J. L. (2017). Astonishing diversity revealed: an annotated and illustrated inventory of Nudipleura (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) from Mozambique. Zootaxa. 4359 (1): 001–133, p. 37, fig. 11B It is known only from the Western Indian Ocean.Rudman, W.B., 2000 (January 17) Hypselodoris regina Marcus & Marcus, 1970. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
Description Hypselodoris regina has an orange body with typically three black longitudinal lines separated by two elongate orange patches and a white background on its dorsum. There is a continuous or broken orange margin to the mantle. The gills and rhinophores are orange, sometimes outlined in white. This nudibranch is similar in appearance to Chromodoris colemani and Chromodoris hamiltoni, an example of mimicry.Gosliner, T.M., Behrens, D.W. & Valdés, Á., 2018. Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification - Indo-Pacific. New World Publications; 2nd Revised, Updated edition. 452 pp. , , p. 188
This species can reach a total length of at least 40 mm and has been observed feeding on sponges from the genus Dysidea.
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