Hypselodoris variobranchia is a species of sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.MolluscaBase (2018). Hypselodoris variobranchia Gosliner & Johnson, 2018. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2018-10-22.
Distribution The holotype of this nudibranch was collected at 30 m depth from Aphol's Rock, Maricaban Island, Tingloy, Batangas Province, Luzon Island, Philippines, . It is a common and widespread species which has been reported from Queensland, Australia; Malaysia;Lau. A, 2006 (Dec 11) Re: Hypselodoris bullocki? from Malaysia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Indonesia and Okinawa, Japan but frequently mistaken for Hypselodoris bullocki or Hypselodoris apolegma.
Description Hypselodoris variobranchia has a deep purple body with a broad solid white border to the mantle. The bulb of the rhinophores is orange, with purple sheaths. The gills may be orange or deep purple. There is a tall gill pocket which is also deep purple in colour. This species has frequently been reported as Hypselodoris bullocki.Rudman W. B., 1999.Hypselodoris bullocki (Collingwood, 1881) - Page 1, Fig E. In: Sea slug forum. Sydney: Australian Museum. This is a large nudibranch, reaching 50 mm in length.
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