Aegires sublaevis Odhner, 1932

Salvador, Xavier, Fernández-Vilert, Robert & Moles, Juan, 2022, Sea slug night fever: 39 new records of elusive heterobranchs in the western Mediterranean (Mollusca: Gastropoda), Journal of Natural History 56 (5 - 8), pp. 265-310 : 272

Aegires sublaevis Odhner, 1932

( Figure 2 (f))

Material examined

Cala Maset caves, Sant Feliu de Guíxols ( Spain), 41°47 ʹ 10”N, 3°2 ʹ 44”E, 16 February 2018, 1 m depth, 1 spc ., adult, L = 15 mm.

External morphology

Body elongate, rough, angulated with central part of dorsum flattened, with black marks on dorsum and laterals; body colour variable white to yellow. Branchial leaves protected by three tubercles, the central one larger than the laterals. Rhinophores smooth, having a brown ring close to the top.

Ecology

One specimen was found feeding on white calcareous sponges of the genus Ascandra Haeckel, 1872 and, thus, displaying the same white colouration as the sponge.

Distribution

Madeira ( Malaquias et al. 2001); Azores ( Calado 2002; Fahey and Gosliner 2004); Atlantic Spanish coast: Canary Islands ( Odhner 1931; Altimira and Ros 1979, as Serigea sublaevis ; Pérez Sánchez et al. 1990; Ortea et al. 1996; 2001, 2003; Malaquias and Calado 1997), Mediterranean Spanish coast: Levantine coast ( Templado et al. 1987), and Catalonia (this study).

Remarks

According to Ortea et al. (1996), the colouration of this species varies from yellow to beige or white depending on the diet. Slugs are generally found feeding on Clathrina coriacea (Montagu, 1814) .

Family CADLINIDAE Bergh, 1891

Genus Aldisa Bergh, 1878

Figures

Figure 2. Photographs of live Cephalaspidea species: (a) The alien Haloa japonica. (b) Haminoea orteai. (c) Egg mass of Haminoea orteai. (d) Philine catena. The Nudibranchia species: (e) Aegires palensis. (f) White morphotype of Aegires sublaevis. (g) Aldisa smaragdina on top of the sponge Phorbas topsenti. (h) Okenia longiductis on the bryozoan Amathia verticillata.