Neptunazurea

{{Short description|Genus of gastropods}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Felimare kempfi.png | image_caption = ''Neptunazurea kempfi'' | taxon = Neptunazurea | authority = Ribeiro, García-Méndez, Valdés, Schrödl & Padula, 2025<ref name=Neptunazurea>Ribeiro, A.; García-Méndez, K.; Valdés, Á.; Schrödl, M.; Padula, V. (2025). [https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5716.3.2 Description of a new genus of Chromodorididae with a taxonomic review of Neptunazurea kempfi (Ev. Marcus, 1971) comb. nov. (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Nudibranchia).] Zootaxa. 5716(3): 333-348.</ref> | type_species = ''Neptunazurea kempfi'' | type_species_authority = Ev. Marcus, 1971 }}

'''''Neptunazurea''''' is a genus of sea slugs, dorid nudibranchs, shell-less marine gastropod mollusks in the in family Chromodorididae<ref name=WoRMS>.MolluscaBase eds. (2026). MolluscaBase. [https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1845213 ''Neptunazurea'' Ribeiro, García-Méndez, Valdés, Schrödl & Padula, 2025.] Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2026-04-22 </ref>.

==Taxonomic history== ''Neptunazurea'' was established after analysis of several small blue species previously placed in ''Felimare''. There had never been a clear set of diagnostics for ''Felimare'', as the genus was re-established as a result of molecular phylogenetic analysis only; morphological features were not taken into account. The species then included in ''Felimare'' (placed previously in ''Hypselodoris'' and ''Mexichromis'') shared neither external and internal anatomies nor reproductive morphologies<ref name=Neptunazurea/>.

In Ribeiro et al. (2025)<ref name=Neptunazurea/>, a study was done re-investigating ''Felimare'' with special focus on the blue, smaller species of the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Both molecular and morphological analyses performed, and a distinct, consistent set of diagnostic material was able to be established. Thus, ''Neptunazurea'' was proposed as a new genus within Chromodorididae.

==Species== Species within ''Neptunazurea'' include<ref name=WoRMS/>:

* ''Neptunazurea francoisae'' Bouchet, 1981 * ''Neptunazurea garciagomezi'' Ortea & Á. Valdés, 1996 * ''Neptunazurea kempfi'' Ev. Marcus, 1971 * ''Neptunazurea molloi'' Ortea & Á. Valdés, 1996 * ''Neptunazurea paulomirpuri'' Ortea & Moro, 2018 * ''Neptunazurea porterae'' T. D. A. Cockerell, 1901 * ''Neptunazurea sisalensis'' Ortigosa & Á. Valdés, 2012

==Description== ''Neptunazurea'' are small chromodorids that can grow up to 30mm long. Their bodies are elongate and narrow, with sides of foot generally not visible on account of a smooth mantle. All species have a mantle that is blue or white, with a white or pale blue "single central longitudinal line". The mantle is edged with a single narrow band that can be yellow, orange, or white. The rhinophores are blue and lamellate. The gills are small, with blue rachis and blue or translucent white leaves<ref name=Neptunazurea/>.

The oral tube is three times as long as the buccal bulb. There are "mole-paw shaped jaw rodlets", and the radula are very in comparison to body length. There is a short, undifferentiated prostate, a large vagine, and a short, wide uterine duct<ref name=Neptunazurea/>.

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Chromodorididae Category:Gastropod genera Category:Taxa named by Michael Schrödl