Berthella platei
(Bergh, 1898)

Order: NOTASPIDEA
Superfamily: PLEUROBRANCHOIDEA
Family: Pleurobranchidae

DISTRIBUTION

Cold temperate southern waters: southernmost Patagonian shelf, Falkland Ids, eastern Beagle Channel, southern Chile north to Quiriquina in central Chile (Schroedl, 1999). Found from 150 m to intertidal in different places.

PHOTO

Locality: Caleta de Arena, 20 m, Carrretera Austral, X Region, Chile, South East Pacific, 6 February 2007, hard bottom. Photographer: Dirk Schories .

Typical Berthella/Berthellina shaped body with uniform translucent pale orange colour. Internal shell is large, thin and transparent brownish, and covers all of the viscera.  Living animals up to 35 mm long.

  • Schroedl, M. (1999) The genus Berthella Blainville, 1825 (Notaspidea: Pleurobranchidae) from Magellanic waters. Journal of  Molluscan Studies, 65: 399-409
  • Schroedl, M. (2003) Sea slugs of southern South America.   Hackenheim, ConchBooks.  1-165. 
Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2007 (April 30) Berthella platei (Bergh, 1898). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/bertplat

Related messages


Re: Berthella platei? from Pacific coast of Chile

May 2, 2007
From: Michael Schroedl

Concerning message #19438:

Hi Bill,
Yes, Dirk's specimen is a perfect Berthella platei. As far as we know, the Argentinian Berthella patagonica does not occur in Magellanic or Chilean waters.
Cheers,
Michael

schroedl@zi.biologie.uni-muenchen.de

Schroedl, M., 2007 (May 2) Re: Berthella platei? from Pacific coast of Chile. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19858

Thanks Michael,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (May 2). Comment on Re: Berthella platei? from Pacific coast of Chile by Michael Schroedl. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19858

Berthella platei? from Pacific coast of Chile

April 17, 2007
From: Dirk Schories

Hello,
Can someone help me with the identification of this species. I suppose that the genus is Berthellina but I did not find any information from South Chile regarding this species. Further on I would like to know if someone is interested to identify material of this family, if we find other species (as we already did in Punta Arenas).

Locality: Caleta de Arena, 20 m, Carrretera Austral, X Region, Chile, South East Pacific, 6 February 2007, hard bottom. Photographer: Dirk Schories .

Greetings
Dirk

dirk.schories@gmx.de

Schories, D., 2007 (Apr 17) Berthella platei? from Pacific coast of Chile. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19438

Dear Dirk,
I think this is Berthella platei, which is found from the Falkland Islands around Patagonia to central Chile.  There is some confusion with Berthella patagonica which is known from central Venzuela to Patagonia. Michael Schroedl has published extensively on these animals so hopefully he can give us his opinion. I am travelling at the moment and haven't got access to the relevant literature. I will chase it up when I return.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Apr 17). Comment on Berthella platei? from Pacific coast of Chile by Dirk Schories. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19438