Felimare picta, (R. A. Philippi, 1836)
Felimare picta, sometimes called the regal sea goddess is a species of colourful sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Chromodorididae. Atlantic Ocean species of Hypselodoris were all transferred to Felimare following a DNA phylogeny.
This nudibranch grows to about 13 cm (5.1 in) long and feeds on sponges of the genus Dysidea. They are typically large animals, often reaching 50–80 mm. The background colour is dark blue, almost black in some Atlantic specimens, while in the Mediterranean the oldest specimens are usually discoloured, becoming pale blue, somewhat violet.
The type locality of Felimare picta is Palermo, Sicily. Felimare picta lives on rocky seabeds throughout the Mediterranean Sea (Greece), European waters (Spain, Portugal), the Eastern North Atlantic Ocean (Azores, Canary Islands) and the Gulf of Mexico.
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