EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN OPISTHOBRANCHIA: DOTIDAE (DENDRONOTOIDEA), ARMINIDAE AND MADRELLIDAE (ARMINOIDEA)

An account is given of Doto, Armina and Madrella species collectedon diving and dredging expeditions to the Ligurian, Tyrrhenian,Adriatic, Ionian and Aegean Seas during the period 1973–1988,supplemented by material collected around Naples (southern Italy)and Banyuls (French Côte Vermeille). In all, 5 speciesof Doto, 3 of Armina and 1 of Madrella were investigated, yielding5 new records for the eastern Mediterranean Sea and one speciesnew to science, Armina tricuspidata from the Tyrrhenian Sea.The common arminid on the American coast from North Carolinato Texas is not A. tigrina as claimed by Abbott(1954) and byEyster (1981), but is a new species, for which we propose thename Armina abbotti. Consideration of world-wide records of Madrella leads to theconclusion that the senior Madrella sanguinea Angas, 1864, embracesM. ferruginosa Alder & Hancock, 1864, M. aurantiace Vayssière,1903 and M. granularis Baba, 1949 (but not the Japanese M. gloriosaBaba, 1949, which is probably distinct). ^*T.E. Thompson died in a car accident 1 January 1990. (Received 2 May 1989; accepted 4 November 1989)