Re Flabellina cynara & B. bertschi

November 16, 2005
From: Dave Behrens

Hi Bill:
Concerning your question in message #15257. I always had a problem with that photo [#6561] of Flabellina cynara. It has the ceratal core of F. cynara, but the spots of B. bertschi. Note the differences in the digestive gland diverticulum - in B. bertschi it is almost as thick as the ceras itself, while in F. cynara it is a thin tube. Not sure what to tell you = c.f. F. cynara, maybe?

Locality: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Photographer: Alicia Hermosillo

Wish I had seen these in person.
Dave Behrens

dave@seachallengers.com

Behrens, D., 2005 (Nov 16) Re Flabellina cynara & B. bertschi. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15281

Dear Dave,
Certainly Ali's earlier photo and this one are identical in shape, with long vertically held cerata and thin digestive gland ducts in the cerata. They also both have elongate rhinophoral clubs with relatively short leaflets compared with 'typical' B. bertschi in which the rhinoophre clubs are shorter and fatter, and the leaflets are more numerous and closely packed together. Also they are white with a purple patch at the tip, while in this photo, and Ali's earlier one, the leaflet are not white and the purple forms a subterminal, not terminal, band. If they are the same species, I wonder why some parts of the population apparently mimic the colour pattern of B. bertschi.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Nov 16). Comment on Re Flabellina cynara & B. bertschi by Dave Behrens. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15281

Factsheet

Flabellina cynara

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  1. Re: Flabellina cynara from Mexico
    From: Alicia Hermosillo, November 17, 2005
  2. Re: Flabellina cynara from Peru
    From: Dave Behrens, November 16, 2005
  3. Flabellina cynara from Mexico
    From: Alicia Hermosillo, April 1, 2002

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