Elysia expansa? from India

November 6, 2009
From: Vishal Bhave

Concerning message #787:

I got 2 specimens of this Elysia on Caulerpa scalpelliformis.
As per comment from Kathe Rose Jensen,

" I think this is more likely Elysia expansa, which also occurs on Caulerpa, sometimes together with E. tomentosa. E. expansa has that dark brown, almost black stripe along parapodial margins and some glandular patches at the tips of the parapodial lobes. In E. tomentosa parapodial margins are pale red and usually more papillose than E. expansa."

Locality: Ambolgad, Rajapur, Ratnagiri, 20 centimeters, Maharashtra, India, Arabian sea, 30 October 2009, Intertidal, in rockpool. Length: 40 mm

Vishal Bhave

vishalbhave@gmail.com

Bhave, V.J., 2009 (Nov 6) Elysia expansa? from India. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22744

Dear Vishal,

This is the same as the animals in your earlier message [#22438] which I identified as Elysia tomentosa. I thought from Kathe's earlier comments [#10658], that she had reached the same conclusion. The most distinctive feature of this species, apart from the large expansive parapodia, and papillae, is the broad pinkish band along the parapodial edge, which is edged on both the inside and outside by a black line. This is fairly constant in all the animals on the Forum I have identified as E. tomentosa. O'Donoghue's description (1924) of E. expansa was of a preserved specimen, but the collector noted a black border to the parapodia. Jensen (1993) identified an Elysia with a 'dark brown' border to the parapodia as E. expansa. On the other hand, Jensen (1997) described E. tomentosa to have 'orange or light-red' parapodial margins. Other external features seem to be similar in both 'species'. So what do we do with animals with your colour pattern, which is characterised as I said earlier by a pinkish border, outlined in black.

I guess its anatomy needs to be compared with that of E. tomentosa and E. expansa - but re-identifying E. expansa may be problematic. In the meantime I think I will persist in calling this E. tomentosa. The alternative would be to give it a number, because it certainly doesn't exactly fit the decriptions of any named species.

  •  Jensen, K.R. (1993) Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia) from Rottnest Island and central Western Australia. [In]: Proceedings of the 5th International marine Biological Workshop: The marine Flora and Fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. (Eds: Wells, F.E.; Walker, D.I.; Kirkman, H., Lethbridge, R.) Western Australian Museum, Perth, 207-253.
  • Jensen, K.R. (1997) Sacoglossa (Mollusca,Opisthobranchia) from the Houtman Abrolhos Islands and central Western Australia. [In:] The Marine Flora and Fauna of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. (Ed: Wells, F.E.) Western Australian Museum, Perth, 307-333.
  •  O'Donoghue, C. H. (1924) Report on Opisthobranchiata from the Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia, with description of a new
    parasitic copepod. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, 35: 521-579, pls. 27-30.

Best wishes,
Bill

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Nov 6). Comment on Elysia expansa? from India by Vishal Bhave. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22744

Factsheet

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