Bulla occidentalis A. Adams, 1827

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 : 213-214

18. Bulla occidentalis A. Adams, 1827

( Figure 2 E–F)

Material examined. APV, 2 spcs, H = 10–35 mm, NRC. CM, 10 spcs, H = 22–27 mm, NRC. LUM, 4 spcs, H = 28–32 mm, NRC. EOL, 2 spcs, H = 20–30 mm, IVICCM000015. SEL, 11 spcs, H = 15–25 mm, IVICCM000058. OLH, 6 spcs, H = 20–30 mm, IVICCM000137. OLH, 2 spcs, H = 18–27 mm, IVICCM000144. SEL, 3 spcs, H = 2 mm, IVICCM000169. OLH, 8 spcs, H = 13–17 mm, IVICCM000209. ML, 1 spc., H = 18 mm, IVICCM000001s. YL, 17 spcs, H = 20–30 mm, IVICCM000051s. GCM, 3 spcs, H = 13–16 mm, IVICCM000072s. YL, 2 spcs, H = 23–33 mm, ZMBN 84919. ML,>50 spcs, H = 15 mm, ZMBN 84902. OLH,>50 spcs, H = 10–15 mm, ZMBN 84901. OLM, 2 spcs, H = 4, 9 mm, ZMBN 84927. BGM, 10 spcs, H = 7–15 mm, ZMBN 84936. IA, 1 spc., PNC.

Ecology. Inside shallow mangrove lagoons (1–2 m deep) with muddy bottom and abundant brown and green algae. Empty shells and egg-masses were observed in reef lagoons with sand bottoms and meadows of the seagrass Thalassia spp.

Distribution. Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Barbuda, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Costa Rica, Dominicana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Martin / St. Maarten, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, USA, Virgin Islands, Venezuela (Most authors called this species Bulla striata Brugière, 1792 but see Malaquias & Reid (2008) for a review: Rios 1985; Valdés et al. 2006; Malaquias & Reid 2008; Rios 2009; Rosenberg 2009; Miloslavich et al. 2010; Yidi & Sarmiento 2011. Gulf of Paria & Miranda: Marcus & Marcus 1967b. Los Roques (as Bulla umbilicata ): Work 1969, Margarita island, Coche island, Cubagua island & Chacopata Peninsule, Sucre: Macsotay & Campos 2001, Mochima: Diaz & Liñero-Arana 2004. La Restinga, Margarita: Grune et al. 2015: as B. striata ).

Remarks. This species shows remarkable phenotypic and ecotypic variability with specimens from sandy bottoms and seagrass having larger and lighter coloured shells in comparison with those from mangrove environments that show in average smaller and darker shells. Malaquias & Reid (2008), based on DNA and morphology, have shown that despite these differences, only a single species of the “ striata ” complex is present in the western Atlantic. Egg-masses were observed tangled on leaves of the seagrass Thalassia spp.

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.