Sea slug night fever: 39 new records of elusive heterobranchs in the western Mediterranean (Mollusca: Gastropoda)
Author
Salvador, Xavier
0000-0003-3039-7566
Author
Fernández-Vilert, Robert
0000-0002-2812-4414
Author
Moles, Juan
0000-0003-4511-4055
text
Journal of Natural History
2022
2022-05-18
56
5 - 8
265
310
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2022.2040630
journal article
83506
10.1080/00222933.2022.2040630
38f6df24-838f-409a-90df-b56087e6a9bc
1464-5262
6758438
Aplysiopsis elegans
Deshayes, 1853
(
Figure 5
(f))
Material examined
Cova
de l’infern (
Spain
),
42°19
ʹ
2.75”N
,
3°19
ʹ
12.74”E
,
19 November 2017
,
1.2 m
depth
, 5 spcs, adults and egg masses,
L =
15–20 mm
;
Cala Maset caves,
Sant Feliu de Guíxols
(
Spain
),
41°47
ʹ
10”N
,
3°2
ʹ
44”E
,
13 September 2019
,
1.3 m
depth
, 1 spc., adult,
L =
15 mm
;
Punta de la Mona
,
Andalucía
(
Spain
),
36°43
ʹ
12.9”N
3°43
ʹ
43.1”W
,
19 September 2020
,
3 m
depth
, 1 spc., adult and egg masses,
L
=
20 mm
.
External morphology
Body elongate, narrow, background colour white with longitudinal dark red lines on dorsum and lateral body parts. Cerata long, smooth; background colour green with white punctuation, dark red vertical lines, pink on tips.
Ecology
Specimens were found feeding on the green alga
Cladophora prolifera
(Roth) Kützing, 1843
. The egg mass is whitish, cylindrical, found associated with algae. The specimen observed in 2019 was found at night crawling over algae, while the 2017 specimens were hidden inside algae. This could mean that slugs are mostly nocturnal, hiding among algae during the day.
Distribution
Greece
(
OBIS 2021
);
Croatia
(
Mavrič et al. 2014
);
Spain
:
Canary Islands
(
Ortea et al. 1998
,
2001
),
Balearic Islands
(
Ballesteros and Templado 1996
),
Catalonia
(this study).
Remarks
This species is rarely observed. It is found among algae, especially
Cystoseira
,
Cladophora
and
Halopteris scoparia
(Linnaeus) Sauvageau, 1904
(
Mavrič et al. 2014
), and probably feeds on them.