Nora Khalaf's Nudibranch (Trapania norakhalafae Khalaf 2017)

Nora Khalaf's Nudibranch (Trapania norakhalafae Khalaf 2017)

The New Species: Nora Khalaf’s Nudibranch Trapania norakhalafae Khalaf, 2017, 5 mm. long, from the Car Cemetery site, 16 meters deep in Dibba Sea, East Coast of the United Arab Emirates, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean ... Photo by: PADI Scuba Dive Instructor & Underwater Photography Instructor Ola Mostafa Khalaf ... 02.09.2017. http://nudibranch-uae.webs.com/trapania-norakhalafae

Description and Distinctive Features:
Trapania norakhalafae Khalaf, 2017 reach a length of 6 mm. The body is whitish, almost transparent in the areas with no viscera, but it is clearly identified by the dark brown spots and streaks on the dorsal part of the body, and the dark brown colour of the rhinophores, oral tentacles and gill leaves. The shape and arrangement of these spots and streaks varies among specimens. There are two pairs of lateral tentaculiform pallial appendages in yellow colour arising from the base of each rhinophore (extra-rhinophoral appendages) and the base of the gills (extra-branchial appendages). The colour of the rhinophores is whitish or semitransparent in the base, but the lamellae and apex are dark brown. Three gill tripinnate (thrice-pinnate) leaves surround the anal papilla. The gill leaves have the central shaft and the lamellae in dark brown colour while the rest is semi-transparent white.

Size: Trapania norakhalafae grows to about 6.00 mm long.

Diet: Trapania norakhalafae feeds on Entoprocta or Kamptozoa which often grow on sponges and corals.

Habitat: Trapania norakhalafae lives in reefs of mixed sandy flats and corals, and was found in sea water in a depth between 3 – 16 meters.

Distribution:
The species Trapania norakhalafae was described and scientifically named from the Sea of Dibba, East Coast of the United Arab Emirates, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea. Its distribution extends from the Palestinian waters, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, through the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific Ocean.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia Linnaeus, 1758 Phylum: Mollusca Linnaeus, 1758 Class: Gastropoda Cuvier, 1797 Subclass: Opisthobranchia / Heterobranchia J. E. Gray, 1840
Clade: Euthyneura Spengel, 1881 Clade: Nudipleura Wägele & Willan, 2000 Order: Opistobranchia / Nudibranchia Cuvier, 1817 Suborder: Doridina / Euctenidiacea Tardy, 1970 Infraorder: Doridacea Thiele, 1931 Superfamily: Anadoridoidea / Onchidoridoidea J.E. Gray, 1827 Family: Goniodorididae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854 Genus: Trapania Pruvot-Fol, 1931 Species: Trapania norakhalafae Khalaf, 2017

Etymology / Derivation of the Scientific Name:

The genus name Trapania derives from Greek Drepane meaning “sickle” or “reaping hook”, presumably referred to the appendixes located in the base of rhinophores and gills in the genus Trapania (OPK – Opistobranquis); and the species name norakhalafae is Latin for “Nora Khalaf” (Daughter of the Taxonomist, born in 1998).

This new Dibba Sea Nudibranch species was classified and named by the Palestinian-German Zoologist Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Khalaf-von Jaffa in September 2017, and the specific name ‘norakhalafae’ was named after his beloved daughter “Nora Khalaf” (born in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Germany in 1998).

My beloved daughter ‘Nora Khalaf’ is an active scuba diver and an Interior Design Architect Student at the Canadian University Dubai. She achieved big successes and achievements in her previous Dubai Carmel School and her present University. She shared with me and her beloved mother the PADI Scuba Dive Instructor ‘Ola Khalaf’ our diving trips, and was wishing that her father names a new creature after her. I was happy and delighted to fulfill her wish.

Reference:
Khalaf-Sakerfalke von Jaffa, Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Ali Taher Mohammad Ahmad Mostafa & Ola Mostafa Esmail Mostafa Khalaf (Photography) (2017). Trapania norakhalafae Khalaf, 2017: A New Dorid Nudibranch Sea Slug Species from the Dibba Sea, East Coast of the United Arab Emirates, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean. Gazelle: The Palestinian Biological Bulletin. ISSN 0178-6288. Number 153, September 2017, pp. 7-30. Dubai and Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. (In Arabic & English). http://nudibranch-uae.webs.com/trapania-norakhalafae