Felimare nyalya is a species of colourful sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.Bouchet, P. (2012). Felimare nyalya (Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2012-05-11.Johnson R.F. & Gosliner T.M. (2012). Traditional taxonomic groupings mask evolutionary history: A molecular phylogeny and new classification of the chromodorid nudibranchs. PLoS ONE 7(4): e33479.
Taxonomic history This species was originally described as Chromodoris nyalya by Eveline and Ernst Marcus in 1967, based on specimens collected from the tropical western Atlantic. It was later transferred to the genus Risbecia by Ortea, Valdés and García-Gómez in 1996 as Risbecia nyalya, during a revision of Atlantic blue chromodorids.Ortea, J., Valdés, Á. & García-Gómez, J.C. (1996). Revisión de las especies atlánticas de la familia Chromodorididae (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) del grupo cromático azul. Avicennia suplemento 1: 1-165 page(s): 147 It was subsequently moved into the resurrected genus Felimare based on extensive molecular phylogeny of the chromodorid nudibranchs.
Distribution This species is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. Its known range includes the Caribbean Sea, the waters surrounding Cuba, and the Gulf of Mexico.Rosenberg, G.; Moretzsohn, F.; García, E. F. (2009). Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 579–699 in: Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas.
Ecology Like many other species within the family Chromodorididae, Felimare nyalya is a carnivorous marine gastropod that likely feeds on specific species of sponges.
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