From editor or global species database
Type locality Gulf of Suez, Red Sea, centred at 28.75 N, 33.0 E. Lamarck (1818: 317) states "Habite la mer Rouge, et se trouve à l’lle-de-France". Then Savigny (1822: 40) attributes his figure to "individu du golfe de Suez" then adds "M. Mathieu a trouvée à l'lle de France, et que j'ai rapportée moi-même des côtes de Ia mer Rouge".
Salazar-Vallejo (2018) has designated the Gulf of Suez specimen as the Lectotype. [details]
Type material Earlier it was believed there was no type material remaining (Fide Pleijel, 1998: 159), however Solis-Weiss et al (2004) record the types as MNHN POLY TYPE 139, 140, and Costa & Christoffersen (2017) record the types as "holotype from Red Sea (MNHN type collection 139); 1 paratype from Red Sea (MNHN type collection 140)". This is disconcerting as Lamarck/Savigny would not have labelled a holotype & paratype. More likely they are syntypes [G. Read 2017-10-27].
Subsequently Salazar-Vallejo (2018: 309) designated these two specimens as "Lectotype of Hesione splendida, MNHN-IA-TYPE0140, designated herein, originally collected in the Suez Gulf, M. Botta coll", and as "Paralectotype of H. splendida, MNHN-IA-TYPE0139, smashed down (probably by labels), partially dehydrated, Île-de-France [sic] (Mauritius), M. Mathieu coll." (In which the French name for regional Paris "Île-de-France" was confused with " Isle de France" the former French name for the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean). [details]