{{Short description|Species of gastropod}} {{Speciesbox | image =Felimare_tricolor_(Cantraine,_1835).jpg | image_caption = | genus = Felimare | species = tricolor | authority = (Cantraine, 1835)<ref>Cantraine, Francois Joseph. 1835. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21688#page/401/mode/1up ''Mollusques—“diagnoses ou descriptions succintes de quelques especes nouvelles de mollusques.”''] Bulletin Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux- Arts de Belgique, Bruxelles 2(10):380-401.</ref> | synonyms_ref= <ref>Johnson R.F. & Gosliner T.M. (2012) [http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0033479 ''Traditional taxonomic groupings mask evolutionary history: A molecular phylogeny and new classification of the chromodorid nudibranchs''.] PLoS ONE 7(4): e33479</ref><ref name="WoRMS"/> | synonyms={{species list | Chromodoris tricolor| (Cantraine, 1835) | Doris tricolor| Cantraine, 1835 ''(basionym)'' | Felimare midatlantica| (Gosliner, 1990) | Glossodoris tricolor| (Cantraine, 1835) | Hypselodoris midatlantica| Gosliner, 1990 | Hypselodoris tricolor| (Cantraine, 1835) | Mexichromis tricolor| (Cantraine, 1835) }} }}

'''''Felimare tricolor''''', or the '''tricolored felimare''',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/469611-Felimare-tricolor |title=Felimare tricolor |website=iNaturalist |access-date=2025-04-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reeflex.net/tiere/5575_Felimare_tricolor.htm |title=Felimare tricolor |website=Reeflex |access-date=2025-04-14}}</ref> is a colourful species of sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.<ref name="WoRMS">Bouchet, P. (2012). [http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=597530 ''Felimare tricolor''.] Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2012-05-10</ref>

==Synonymy== The original description of ''Doris tricolor'' was considered so poor by Gosliner<ref>Gosliner, T. M. 1990. ''Opisthobranch mollusks from the Azores Islands. I. Runcinidae and Chromodorididae''. Açoreana (supplement):135-166.</ref> that he considered that the name should be abandoned. Posteriorly Ortea, Valdes & Garcia-Gomez<ref name=Ortea1996>Ortea, J., Valdés, A. & and García-Gómez, J.C. (1996) [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/152470#page/38/mode/1up ''Revisión de las especies atlánticas de la familia Chromodorididae (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) de grupo cromático azul. (Review of the Atlantic species of the family Chromodorididae (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) of the blue chromatic group.)''] Avicennia, 1996, Suppl. '''1: 1-165'''. page 32-42.</ref> selected a neotype for Cantraine's ''Doris tricolor'' and synonymized with it ''Hypselodoris midatlantica'' Gosliner, 1990. Ortea et al.'s neotype selection is contested by Gosliner (see http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3807), and thus, there are different opinions on the valid name for the taxonomical species involved. Overall, the European school uses ''Hypselodoris tricolor'' and the American school uses ''Hypselodoris midatlantica''. As the neotype designation has not been rejected by the ICZN, we follow here the traditional European usage.<ref name="WoRMS"/><ref>Rudman W.B. (1984) ''The Chromodorididae (Opisthobranchia: Mollusca) of the Indo-West Pacific'': a review of the genera. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 81 (2/3): 115-273. page(s): 216</ref>

==Distribution== Cantraine described this species from the Strait of Bonifacio and the Adriatic Sea. This nudibranch is reported from the Western Mediterranean to the Eastern Atlantic Ocean.<ref>Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). ''European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification''. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp.&nbsp;180–213</ref>

==Description== The original description reads: {{quote|text = Doris corpore elongato, levissimo, caeruleo; dorso tribus lineis longitudinalibus notato, duobus lateralibus aurantiacis, media albida. - Longit. 4 lin.}}

In 1841 Cantraine expanded on this and gave an illustration.<ref>Cantraine, F. J. 1841. ''Malacologie Méditerranéenne et littorale ou, description des mollusques qui vivent dans la Méditerranée ou sur le continent de l'Italie, ainsi que des coquilles qui se trouvent dans les terrains tertiaires Italiens, avec des observations sur leur anatomie, leurs moeurs, leur analogie et leur gisement.'' Nouveaux Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Bruxelles 13(1):1-175, pls. 1-6.</ref>

''Felimare tricolor'' has a blue body with a yellow-orange line running along the edge of the mantle. There is a single central white-yellow line along the midline of the mantle and paler blue diffuse patches between this line and the sides. The gills are dark blue with a single white line along the midline which becomes more prominent at the tip of each gill. The rhinophores are dark blue with a paler tip but with no yellow or white markings. There is some variation in colour between individuals and regions.<ref name="forum"/> The development of the colour pattern is described by Ortea et al.<ref name=Ortea1996/>

This species can reach a total length of at least 35&nbsp;mm and has been observed feeding on sponges from the genus ''Dysidea'' as well as ''Scalarispongia scalaris''.<ref name="forum">Rudman, W.B., 2001 (February 11) [http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall/hypstric ''Hypselodoris tricolor'' (Cantraine, 1835).] <nowiki>[In]</nowiki> Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.</ref><ref>Debelius, H. & Kuiter, R.H. (2007) ''Nudibranchs of the world''. ConchBooks, Frankfurt, 360 pp. {{ISBN|978-3-939767-06-0}} page(s): 112.</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * {{sealifephotos|597530}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q524481}}

Category:Chromodorididae Category:Gastropods described in 1835