Cuthona cf. pinnifera

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Tergipedidae

PHOTO

Hachijo Island, Japan, 6m. Length: 8mm. Photo: Nishina Masayoshi

See my comments below.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2002 (March 21) Cuthona cf. pinnifera [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/cuthcfpinn

Related messages


Is this Cuthona pinnifera?

March 23, 2002
From: Nishina Masayoshi


Dear Bill,
I saw this Aeolidia at Hachijo Island before but I have no idea what this is. I will be happy if you have some advice.

Data:
Date: 3 March, 2002
Location: Hachijo Island Japan
Depth: 6m
Length: 8mm

Best Regards,
Nishina Masayoshi

nishina@wips.co.jp

Masayoshi, N., 2002 (Mar 23) Is this Cuthona pinnifera?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6374

Dear Nishina,
The semicircular ridges on the rhinophores are very unusual. The only species that comes to mind is Cuthona pinnifera which was described from Sagami Bay by Baba as Cratena pinnifera.

Unfortunately I can find very little in the literature about colour variation in this species so I really can't be sure. One thing that would be useful to know is whether the front of the foot is rounded at the corners or whether the anterior corners are developed into pointed tentacles. In Cuthona pinnifera the anterior corners of the foot are rounded.

Terry Gosliner (1964) identified an animal from Hawaii as this species and it certainly fits your photos in most features. At them moment I think it is best to call it Cuthona cf. pinnifera until we know more.

• Abe,T (1964) Opisthobranchia of Toyama Bay and adjacent waters. Hokuryu-kan, Tokyo. 99pp., 36 Plates pages.
• Baba,K (1949) Opisthobranchia of Sagami Bay collected by His Majesty The Emperor of Japan. Iwanami Shoyen, Tokyo. 194pp., 50 Pls pages.
• Gosliner, T.M. (1979) The systematics of the Aeolidiacea (Nudibranchia: Mollusca) of the Hawaiian Islands, with descriptions of two new species. Pacific Science, 33(1): 37-77.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Mar 23). Comment on Is this Cuthona pinnifera? by Nishina Masayoshi. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6374