Hypselodoris rudmani

Hypselodoris rudmani is a species of sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae. This species is named after the well known malacologist William B. Rudman.

Distribution
The holotype of this nudibranch was collected at 11 m depth from Philip’s Reef (-33.9721°N, 25.67913°W), Port Elizabeth, Algoa Bay, Cape Province, South Africa. Two additional specimens in the original description were from warmer water sites further north at Park Rynie (-30.33381°N, 30.73554°W), Natal and Umgazana (-31.70202°N, 29.41594°W), Eastern Cape, South Africa. A specimen from Pointe Evatra, South Madagascar (-24.96833°N, 47.10167°W) was sequenced for three genes in a landmark study which resulted in the description of 17 new species of Hypselodoris.

Description
Hypselodoris rudmani has a translucent body dotted with white patches, and covered in small blue spots. The gills and rhinophores are white, tipped with orange. Hypselodoris rudmani is a member of a large clade that includes Hypselodoris katherinae, Hypselodoris paradisa, Hypselodoris maritima, Hypselodoris skyleri and Hypselodoris bertschi.

This species can reach a total length of at least 25 mm.