Phyllaplysia engeli from Florida

January 29, 2005
From: William Schill

Can anyone who can attach a name to these green guys? I think the egg cases belong to them, but that is still under investigation. These were introduced into our system from Thallasia bed material. Adults and the presumptive egg cases are found on Thallasia as well as Halodule.

Locality: Barnes Key, Florida Bay, Florida, USA
Depth: 1 meter. Length: Up to 1.5 cm. January 2005
Shallow bay waters. Photographer: James Murray

William B. Schill

bane_schill@usgs.gov

Schill, W.B., 2005 (Jan 29) Phyllaplysia engeli from Florida. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13052

Dear Bane,
This is a small Sea Hare, almost certainly a species of Phyllaplysia. I suspect it is Phyllaplysia engeli, but as I discuss on the Fact Sheet, another species P. smaragda has been described from Florida, but I am not sure if they are really different or not. P. engeli was originally described from 'brown animals with a greenish tinge' from Brazil, but as species in this group can be very variable in colour - from brown to green - I don't think the fact that tour animals are quite green is a real problem. If you plan to study the biology of these animals please keep in touch and let us know how you get on
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Jan 29). Comment on Phyllaplysia engeli from Florida by William Schill. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13052

Factsheet

Phyllaplysia engeli

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