Re: Eubranchopsis virginalis ? from Ratnagiri, In
May 15, 2009
From: vishalbhave
Concerning message #2258:
This slug,Eubranchopsis virginalis, may have come into my experimental marine tank with alga or rocks.
The image is captured with normal digital camera (Nikon coolpix S4) with a 20X optical lens of microscope in front of it.
Locality: Rocky patch, Mandvi, Ratnagiri, , 1 feet, Maharashtra, India, Arabian sea, 15 February 2009, intertidal, rocky, with lots of sponges, hydroids, bryozoans and alga. Length: 1 mm. Photographer: Vishal Bhave.
Vishal Bhave
vishalbhave@gmail.com
Bhave,V.J., 2009 (May 15) Re: Eubranchopsis virginalis ? from Ratnagiri, In. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22460Dear Vishal,
This is another interesting find from India - and another problematic eubranchid aeolid. This is most probably the same species as Yasuhiro Shirai's animal from Japan [message #2258] which I have tentatively identified as Eubranchopsis virginalis,but one distinctive feature of that species is the long, almost tentacular, tubercles it has on its cerata, as is well illustrated in Yoshi Hirano's message [#2268].
Until someone compares the anatomy of these two forms I have considerable misgivings about identifying your animal as E. virginalis. Interestingly, in Rao's paper describing Eubranchus mandapamensis, he also describes another species of Eubranchopsis from India - E. indicus. It has the tentacular tubercles on the cerata but lacks any distinct colour pattern or spots. As the largest of his 7 specimens was less than 6 mm long, its possible he was dealing with juveniles of 'true' E. virginalis. I guess this is just another taxonomic puzzle we have yet to resolve.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Related messages
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Re: Cerata of Eubranchopsis virginalis
From: Yoshi Hirano, April 14, 2000 -
Eubranchopsis virginalis from Japan
From: Yasuhiro Shirai, April 12, 2000
