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Pseudobornella qingdaoensis is currently only known from intertidal waters around Qingdao, China, and the Yellow Sea, and may also be widespread in Japan, although there are no reports of finds in Japanese waters.
The basic color of Pseudobornella qingdaoensis is translucent yellow to dark brown, with numerous scattered orange to brown spots and white speckles.In some individuals, the white spots form two longitudinal stripes running along both sides of the back.
Description: Live nudibranchs are up to 4.0 cm long, with a broad foot that tapers relatively abruptly toward the tail.The foot is pale pink, covered with numerous very small, indistinct darker spots, separated from the head by a long, transverse groove. Each side of the mouth is equipped with four or five smooth, tapering mouth tentacles of varying sizes. The rhinophoral sheath is very elongated.The upper edge of each rhinophoral sheath bears four lateral, finger-like, branched papillae and a posterior papilla that is significantly longer.The rhinophores have about 12 lamellae. The dorsal margin has four pairs of dorsolateral papillae that become smaller towards the rear end of the foot, each papilla being provided with numerous unbranched gills on the inner side. The anus of the nudibranch is small and located on the right side of the back between the first and second pairs of dorsolateral appendages.The genital opening is located on the right side, halfway between the rhinophore sheath and the first dorsolateral appendage.
Distribution and habitat: The nudibranch was found in the rocky intertidal zone, where it fed on a hydrozoan.
Etymology: The species name “qingdaoensis” was named after the type locality Qingdao in China.
Literature reference: Zhang S, Wang J (2025)
Description of a new species of Pseudobornella Baba, 1932 (Gastropoda, Nudibranchia, Dendronotidae) from the Yellow Sea.
ZooKeys 1241: 301-314.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which allows unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
The basic color of Pseudobornella qingdaoensis is translucent yellow to dark brown, with numerous scattered orange to brown spots and white speckles.In some individuals, the white spots form two longitudinal stripes running along both sides of the back.
Description: Live nudibranchs are up to 4.0 cm long, with a broad foot that tapers relatively abruptly toward the tail.The foot is pale pink, covered with numerous very small, indistinct darker spots, separated from the head by a long, transverse groove. Each side of the mouth is equipped with four or five smooth, tapering mouth tentacles of varying sizes. The rhinophoral sheath is very elongated.The upper edge of each rhinophoral sheath bears four lateral, finger-like, branched papillae and a posterior papilla that is significantly longer.The rhinophores have about 12 lamellae. The dorsal margin has four pairs of dorsolateral papillae that become smaller towards the rear end of the foot, each papilla being provided with numerous unbranched gills on the inner side. The anus of the nudibranch is small and located on the right side of the back between the first and second pairs of dorsolateral appendages.The genital opening is located on the right side, halfway between the rhinophore sheath and the first dorsolateral appendage.
Distribution and habitat: The nudibranch was found in the rocky intertidal zone, where it fed on a hydrozoan.
Etymology: The species name “qingdaoensis” was named after the type locality Qingdao in China.
Literature reference: Zhang S, Wang J (2025)
Description of a new species of Pseudobornella Baba, 1932 (Gastropoda, Nudibranchia, Dendronotidae) from the Yellow Sea.
ZooKeys 1241: 301-314.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which allows unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
