The specific epithet quadrilineata means four-lined and refers to the four longitudinal black lines present on the original specimen.

[12] It is distributed from Greenland to Norway and south along the European coasts into the Mediterranean Sea.

[13] The South African animals differ in having six instead of four papillae projecting from the frontal margin of the head, plus details of the coloration.

The ground colour is white or grey and there are usually black, yellow or orange stripes longitudinally along the notum, though these can be absent.

It is distinguished from the crowned nudibranch in having raised yellow spots on the mid-dorsal region.