First record of Eubranchus vittatus in Norway

August 2, 2005
From: Kåre Telnes

[Note added 8 August: see Bernard Picton's message [#14495] suggesting the upper photo is Eubranchus doriae ]

This summer I have at two occasions found Eubranchus vittatus in Norway. Jussi Evertsen at the university in Trondheim has received specimens and confirmed the identification. So I guess I can regard this as the first record in Norway. It is known in Scotland, which is not too far away. I am a bit confused though, as Jussi mentioned another species, E. cingulatus. At the Sea Slug Forum E. cingulatus and E. vittatus are regarded as a single species, while Jussi, along with the European Register of Marine Species, regards these as separate species. Could you clarify this, please?

(More pictures here: http://www.seawater.no/fauna/Blotdyr/vittatus.htm )

Locality: The Trondheim fjord, Norway. North East Atlantic. Depth: 26 meters. Length: 1 cm. 25 July 2005. Rocky, current exposed. Photographer: Kåre Telnes

Kåre Telnes

kare@seawater.no

Telnes, K., 2005 (Aug 2) First record of Eubranchus vittatus in Norway. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14460

Dear Kåre,
Thanks for this interesting record. Most occurrences of this species have been from  the northern part of the British Isles suggesting it is a colder water species, so your find certainly fits that idea. Concerning the names E. cingulatus and E. vittatus. Both species were described by Alder & Hancock from the UK, but one of them - E. vittatus - has been considered very rare, Thompson & Brown (1984) reporting only 3 records since its description in 1842.

As I mention on the species Fact Sheet, I follow Bernard Picton, who probably has the best knowledge of this fauna as living animals, in considering E. vittatus and E. cingulatus to be the same species. It may seem surprising that in such a populated part of the world, we still have identity problems with the marine fauna, but I guess its all a question of  priorities for science research spending. With the space shuttle aloft at present it is perhaps timely to mention Cape Canaveral again. It troubles me that we spend so much to look for life on Mars etc., and almost nothing to look at life in the Gulf of Mexico.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Aug 2). Comment on First record of Eubranchus vittatus in Norway by Kåre Telnes. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14460

Factsheet

Eubranchus vittatus

Related messages

  1. Re: First record of Eubranchus vittatus in Norway
    From: Bernard Picton, August 8, 2005
  2. Re: First record of Eubranchus vittatus in Norway
    From: Jussi Evertsen, August 3, 2005
  3. Eubranchus vittatus from Scotland
    From: Jim Anderson, January 5, 2005

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