First Molecular Confirmation of the Presence of Dendronotus primorjensis Martynov, Sanamyan & Korshunova, 2015 in Japan and New Distributional Records of Dendronotus Species in the North Pacific (Nudibranchia: Dendronotidae)

Abstract

New data on nudibranch molluscs of the genus Dendronotus in the North Pacific are presented. For the first time, the presence of the nudibranch Dendronotus primorjensis Martynov, Sanamyam & Korshunova, 2015 in the Japanese fauna is confirmed using molecular data. Recently collected Japanese specimens of D. primorjensis from Hokkaido are compared with those from the type locality of this species in the Sea of Japan, Russia, using external and internal morphological data. Furthermore, the presence of the species Dendronotus robilliardi Korshunova, Sanamyan, Zimina, Fletcher & Martynov, 2016 is also reported from both the Japanese fauna in the NW Pacific and in the NE North American Pacific. Molecular data for D. robilliardi from the NE Pacific (Port Orchard, Washington State, USA) are reported here for the first time, whereas D. robilliardi was identified from Japan via photographic records using the previously inferred robust molecular and morphological framework for this species. Finally, the species Dendronotus kalikal Ekimova, Korshunova, Schepetov, Neretina, Sanamyan & Martynov, 2015 is reported from the Kuril Islands, which is the first record outside of the type locality in Kamchatka.