Hancockia californica from Monterey, CA

May 29, 2007
From: Clinton Bauder

Hi Bill,

My dive club was privileged to host Alicia Hermosillo for 3 days of diving in the Monterey area. She was able to find several species that were new to me. This is Hancockia californica.

Locality: Monterey, 15 meters, CA, USA, Pacific, 20 May 2007, Shale beds off of Del Monte Beach. Length: 15mm. Photographer: Clinton Bauder.

Clinton

gecko1@apple.com

Bauder, C., 2007 (May 29) Hancockia californica from Monterey, CA. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19949

Hi Clinton,

Spectacular close ups showing the key (important) identifying characteristics of this somewhat uncommon species. It takes eyes like Ali's has to find these guys.

In your photos we can clearly see the palmate (hand shaped) morphology of the cerata and frontal veil. This is in contrast with the morphology of these features in Dendronotus, where they are highly branched and which are constantly confused with this species. We can also see that the rhinophores have a very simple, short and blunt crown, and they do not have any lateral processes.

Awesome, thanks
Dave Behrens

Behrens, D.W., 2007 (May 29). Comment on Hancockia californica from Monterey, CA by Clinton Bauder. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19949

Factsheet

Hancockia californica

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