Fam. 1, Plate 19.
GONIODORIS CASTANEA, Alder and Hancock.
G-. ovata, castanea vel brunnea, albo maculata, tuberculis undique instructa: pallio parvo, margine
undato, medio carinato: tentaculis labialibus latis, apicibus acumiuatis: capite medio sinuato.
Goniodoris castanea, Aid. and Hanc. in Ann. Nat. Hist. v. 16, p. 314.
Hab. Under stones near low-water mark. Salcombe Estuary, Devonshire, J. A. Saltcoats,
Ayrshire, Mr. D. Landsborough,jun.
Body three quarters of an inch long, ovate, rather broad and flattish, generally of a
reddish brown colour, but sometimes of a very dark brown, and rarely of a pale grayish
brown approaching to white; covered with soft warty tubercles, which are conical with
flattened apices, and conspicuously blotched and spotted with opake white. Head warty,
bilobed, deeply sinuated in the centre, arched and terminating in tentacular points at the
sides; a ridge runs up each side from these points to the margin of the cloak. Cloak small,
with an ample margin reflected upwards all round, excepting behind, where for a short
space it is not continuous. The margin is waved and smooth, but on the under side, where
reflected, especially near the branchiae, are several small, pointed tubercles. The whole area
of the cloak is fiddle-shaped, widening considerably towards the branchiae, and nearly
smooth: an elevated ridge runs down the centre of the back, and a faint transverse one
usually intersects it about half way down. Dorsal tentacles small, placed much forward on
the head, and generally thrown back when the animal is at rest, but when it is in action
they are much more elevated: the base is smooth and brownish, with three or more
longitudinal interrupted lines of white, above which there are ten or eleven broad laminae
of a brown colour, blotched with darker brown and white, coming to a peak behind, but not
reaching to the front of thé tentacle, which is smooth: the apex is a small cylindrical
style, truncated at the top, and blotched with opake white. Branchtee large, consisting of
seven or nine plumes, forming nearly a complete circle round the anus. The plumes are
dark purplish brown spotted with white, tripinnate, and frequently divided into two
branches at the top. A waved tuberculated ridge extends from the termination of the cloak
to the tail, which is rather obtuse. Foot broad, extending much beyond the cloak, and
having the upper part strongly tuberculated and blotched with opake white. It is deeply
notched under the mouth in front, and rounded at the sides: the colour of the under side is
yellowish, with a tinge of purple, and sprinkled with minute white and brown spots, the
liver appearing indistinctly through the centre of a dark purple colour.
We discovered a single specimen of this very distinct and interesting Goniodoris in the
summer of 1845, under a stone at low-water mark near the ruins of Salcombe Castle,
Devonshire. Since then it has been found more plentifully at Saltcoats, on the Ayrshire
coast, by our young friend, Mr. David Landsborough, jun., to whom we are indebted for