REEF Citizen Science Program Manager Janna Nichols recently had the honor of having a new species of nudibranch (sea slug) named after her! Cadlina jannanicholsae is part of a difficult-to-distinguish complex of nudibranchs that was previously thought to only include Hudson’s Dorid (Acanthodoris hudsoni) and Yellow Margin Dorid (Cadlina luteomarginata). The complex is monitored by REEF surveyors in the Pacific Northwest. After extensive research on specimens collected in the Puget Sound and the Canadian Gulf Islands, scientists have discovered three more species in the complex. Their findings were published in a new paper, “The Emperor’s Cadlina, hidden diversity and gill cavity evolution: new insights for the taxonomy and phylogeny of dorid nudibranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda)” in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. The authors named the new species after three remarkable people involved in marine biology: Klas Malmberg from Sweden, National Geographic Explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle, and our very own Janna Nichols!
According to the Etymology section for the new species: “For Janna Nichols, REEF’s Citizen Science Program Manager, working extensively with the Volunteer Fish and Invertebrate Survey Project database, training programs and volunteer teams. She has worked tirelessly for citizen science program development in the Pacific northwest of the USA and globally.” Congratulations Janna!
The paper citation is: Korshunova, T, K Fletcher, B Picton, K Lundin, S Kashio, N Sanamyan, K Sanamyan, V Padula, M Schrödl, A Martynov. 2020. The Emperor’s Cadlina, hidden diversity and gill cavity evolution: new insights for the taxonomy and phylogeny of dorid nudibranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. zlz126, https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz126.
We also want to give a big thank you to Karin Fletcher, who is one of the authors of the paper and a member of the REEF Advanced Assessment Team in the Pacific Northwest.