REVIEW OF THE GENUS DENDRODORIS EHRENBERG, 1831 (GASTROPODA, NUDIBRANCHIA) IN THE ATLANTIC-OCEAN

Six valid species of the nudibranch genus Dendrodoris Ehrenberg, 1831 inhabit the Atlantic Ocean, including the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas: Dendrodoris limbata (Cuvier, 1804), Dendrodoris grandiflora (Rap p, 1827), Dendrodoris nigra (Stimpson, 1855) (immigrant from the Red S ea), Dendrodoris krebsii (Morch, 1863), Dendrodoris senegalensis Bouch et, 1975 and Dendrodoris warta Marcus & Gallagher, 1976. Additional da ta about the biology and geographical distribution of these species ar e presented. New evidence suggests that other species assigned to the genus Dendrodoris Dendrodoris racemosa Pruvot-Fol, 1951 and Dendrodori s minima Pruvot-Fol, 1951, must be included in the genus Doriopsilla B ergh, 1880. Three new species of Dendrodoris are described from the No rtheastern Atlantic and West Africa: Dendrodoris angolensis, Dendrodor is guineana and Dendrodoris herytra. The variable external morphology makes species recognition difficult. Instead, the diagnostic character s utilised to separate species are the shape of the male cirrus hooks, the structure of the reproductive system and features of the egg-mass .