Aegires albus
Thiele, 1912

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: ANADORIDOIDEA
Family: Aegiretidae

DISTRIBUTION

This species has only been recorded from the Antarctic Peninsula, the Ross
Sea and the Weddell Sea (Wägele 1987).

PHOTO

Locality: Grass Island, Stromness Harbor, South Georgia, Southern Ocean. 16 meters. Length 10 mm. 24 February 2007. Rock wall. Photo:
David Cothran

It is similar in shape to other species of Aegires, but one difference is that it still possesses a distinctive mantle edge which is absent in other species. Odhner (1934) considered the presence of a mantle edge to be enough to place this species in a separate genus Anaegires, but Wägele (1987) reviewed the anatomy of Aegires albus, and  Odhner's type species of Anaegires, (A. protectus), and decided that neither the new genus nor the new species were warranted.

It is translucent white with white specks concentrated on the tubercles. The tubercles appear changeable in shape sometimes tall and columnar and at other times lower and rounded. The holotype of A. protectus was 23 mm long preserved, but most records of this species, as A. albus, suggest it is usually about that length alive.

• Odhner, N.H. (1934)  The Nudibranchiata. British Antarctic ("Terra Nova") Expedition, 1910. British Museum Natural History Report, Zoology 7(5): 229-310, Pls.1-3.
• Thiele, J. (1912) Die Antarktischen Schnecken und Muscheln. Deutsche Sudpolarexpedition 1901-03. Zoology, 5. Berlin. pp. 186-285.
• Wägele, H. (1987) Redescription and Anatomy of Aegires (Anaegires) albus Thiele, 1912 (Opisthobranchia, Doridacea) and synonymy with A. protectus Odhner, 1934. Polar Biology 7: 267-272.

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