Pleurolidia juliae

Pleurolidia juliae is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurolidiidae.[2]

Pleurolidia juliae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Dexiarchia
clade Cladobranchia
clade Aeolidida
Superfamily:
Aeolidioidea
Family:
Pleurolidiidae
Genus:
Pleurolidia
Species:
P. juliae
Binomial name
Pleurolidia juliae
Burn, 1966[1]

Taxonomic history

This species was synonymised with Protaeolidiella atra by Rudman.[3] A careful study by Carmona et al. using DNA sequencing showed that these were really two sister species and that they were not members of the family Aeolidiidae.[4]

Distribution

This species was described from Lord Howe Island, Australia. It has been reported from Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Palau, Hawaii and Japan.[4][5]

Description

Pleurolidia juliae is an aeolid nudibranch with a black body and a dorsal white line. The body is slender and cylindrical with rounded foot corners. A broad, irregular white line runs along the dorsal midline. The oral tentacles are tipped with white. The rhinophores are greyish, with white specks over the warts, and have white tips. The cerata are in small groups which are not always symmetrical, sometimes having a zigzag arrangement. They extend from behind the rhinophores to the posterior end of the body. They are black with opaque white spots over their surface and translucent white tips.[4] It is illustrated in many works under the name Protaeolidiella atra.[6]

References
  1. Burn R (1966) Descriptions of Australian Eolidacea (Mollusca:Opisthobranchia) 4. The genera Pleurolidia, Fiona, Learchis and Cerberilla from Lord Howe Island. J Malacol Soc Aust 10:21–34
  2. Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Pleurolidia juliae. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-12-14
  3. Rudman, W.B. (1990.) Protaeolidiella atra Baba, 1955 and Pleurolidia juliae Burn, 1966; one species, two families (Nudibranchia). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 56(4): 505-514.
  4. Carmona, Leila; Pola, Marta; Gosliner, Terrence M.; Cervera, Juan Lucas (January 2015). "Protaeolidiella atra Baba, 1955 versus Pleurolidia juliae Burn, 1966: One or two species?". Helgoland Marine Research. doi:10.1007/s10152-014-0422-3.
  5. Baba K (1992) Comment on the Taxonomy of Protaeolidiella atra Baba 1955 and an allied species (Mollusca: Nudibranchia: Aeoidiidae) from Japan. Report of the Sado Marine Biological Station, Niigata University 22:29–35
  6. Rudman, W.B., 1999 (April 1) Protaeolidiella atra Baba, 1955. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.