Haminoea cf. elegans ( Gray, 1825 )

Gutiérrez, Manuel Caballer, Ortea, Jesús, Rivero, Nelsy, Tucker, Gabriela Carias, Malaquias, Manuel António E. & Narciso, Samuel, 2015, The opisthobranch gastropods (Mollusca: Heterobranchia) from Venezuela: an annotated and illustrated inventory of species, Zootaxa 4034 (2), pp. 201-256 : 214

19. Haminoea cf. elegans ( Gray, 1825)

( Figure 2 G)

Material examined. EOL, 2 spcs, H = 4–7 mm, IVICCM000018. OLH, 1 spc., H = 6 mm, IVICCM000151. OLH, 5 spcs, H = 5–8 mm, ZMBN 84903. OLM, 1 spc., H = 4 mm, ZMBN 84926.

Ecology. Inside mangrove lagoons (1–2 m deep) with soft bottom and brown and green algae including Halimeda spp.

Distribution. ABC Islands, Bermuda, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, USA, Virgin Islands, Venezuela ( Princz 1982; Valdés et al. 2006; Rosenberg 2009; Miloslavich et al. 2010; Yidi & Sarmiento 2011. Morrocoy: Bitter et al. 2009. La Restinga, Margarita: Grune et al. 2015).

Remarks. The systematics of the genus Haminoea is confusing due to the poor definition of the species characters, most of the taxonomic work is shell-based and shells are very similar between species which makes separation difficult. A review of the worldwide species of Haminoea is underway (Malaquias, in progress) and we here tentatively identify these specimens as H. elegans due to the presence of spiral grooves in the shell.

Figures

FIGURE 2. A, Migaya felis, 1 iving specimen and spawn. B, Navanax gemmatus. C, Chelidonura hirundinina. D, Philine buchensis. E, Bulla occidentalis, ϳuveni 1 e. F, Bulla occidentalis. G, Haminoea cf. elegans. H, Lapinura divae. I, Aplysia dactylomela. J, Aplysia brasiliana. K, Aplysia juliana. L, Dolabrifera dolabrifera. M, Petalifera ramosa.