Elysia pratensis
Ortea & Espinosa, 1996
Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: ELYSIOIDEA
Family: Elysiidae
DISTRIBUTION
Caribbean, tropical west Atlantic
PHOTO
Lark Cay, Belize. Note yellow egg ribbon. Photo: Jaff Hamann.
A relatively elongate species of Elysia ranging in colour from green to a yellowish green with a pattern of pale longitudinal lines all over body and parapodia. Sometimes the lines are accentuated by the presence of alternating vrown lines. Scattered over the parapodia are raised, unbranched, whitish papillae. Along the parapodial margin the papillae appear as a series of white swellings visible inside and out. The rest of the inside of the parapodia is dark green. There is a black line along the parapodial margin. Grows to about 20mm long. Colin Redfern (2001) notes that the late Kerry Clark considered this species to be a colour form of Elysia subornata Verrill, 1901.
Reference:
• Ortea, J. & Espinosa, J. 1996. Descripcion de una nueva especie del genero Elysia Risso, 1818 (Opisthobranchia: Sacoglosa) recolectada en Puerto Morelos, Mexico. Avicennia, 1996, 4/5: 115-119.
• Redfern, C. 2001. Bahamian Seashells: A Thousand Species from Abaco, Bahamas. Bahamianseashells.com, Inc: Boca Raton, Florida. x + 280 pp., 124 pls. [Plate 116, fig. 675]
Rudman, W.B., 2002 (January 20) Elysia pratensis Ortea & Espinosa, 1996. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/elysprat
Related messages
Elysia pratensis from the West Indies
June 25, 2007
From: Jim Chambers
G'Day, Bill.
While diving on Little Cayman, British West Indies (Caribbean Sea) on May 27, 2006, I saw a single Elysia pratensis on the sand at a depth of about 12-14 meters. It was about 25-30 mm in size, as nearly as I can recall. This was the only one I saw during two weeks of diving. Since I don't see this species reported in Little Cayman, I thought I would submit it to you.
Cheers,
Jim Chambers
Georgia USA
jimbo1946@mindspring.com
Chambers, J., 2007 (Jun 25) Elysia pratensis from the West Indies. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20037
Thanks Jim,
So little is published about these Caribbean animals, that every new bit of information is valuable.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Elysia pratensis from Utila (Honduras)
December 16, 2005
From: Les Wilk
Hi Bill;
Here's a specimen of Elysia pratensis from Honduras.
Locality: Utila Island, Honduras, Caribbean. Depth: 30 feet. Length: 0.75 inch. July 2000. eelgrass. Photographer: Keri Wilk
Les Wilk
wilk@reefnet.ca
Wilk, L., 2005 (Dec 16) Elysia pratensis from Utila (Honduras). [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15476
Thanks Les,
This appears to be one of the most reliable species of Elysia in the Caribbean - as far as its external form and colour pattern goes. The black longitudinal lines, including one along the edge of the parapodia, the rounded swellings along the edge of the parapodia - especially on the inside, and the scattered white papillae on the outside of the parapodia seem to be constant characters of ths species.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Elysia pratensis from Northern Bahamas
February 23, 2004
From: Marina Poddubetskaia
Dear Bill,
After my week with Anne DuPont in the Southern Bahamas, I had a diving cruise in the Northern Bahamas. And I found there another elysiid: is it Elysia pratensis? I have seen only one specimen of this species and it was found crawling on the sand with many algae all around.
Date: February 09, 2004
Location: Bimini Islands, Bahamas, Western Atlantic
Site: South Cat Cay
Depth: 1m
Size : 8mm
Best wishes,
Marina.
nembro@nembro.info
Poddubetskaia, M., 2004 (Feb 23) Elysia pratensis from Northern Bahamas. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12268Dear Marina,
It is good to get these photos of Caribbean elysiids. It will certainly help future workers to identify them. I agree that this is Elysia pratensis.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
Elysia pratensis from Belize
October 10, 2002
From: Dave Behrens
Bill,
Here is a nice photo of Elysia pratensis Ortea & Espinosa, 1996. This species is very common in Belize. This photo was taken by Jaff Hamann at Lark Cay. Note yellow egg ribbon.
Dave Behrens
dave@seachallengers.com
Thanks Dave,
With their often large populations, elysiids and other sacoglossans are of great interest to ecologists, and their habit of 'stealing' plant organelles for their own use has made them of special interest to plant physiologists. It is unfortunate then that the difficulty in identifying species is such an impediment to these studies. Hopefully, good identified photos, such as this one, will make the job of ecologists and physiologists a little easier.
Cheers,
Bill Rudman
Re: Elysia from Florida
January 22, 2002
From: Colin Redfern
Dear Kathe & Bill,
To continue the discussion here are dorsal and ventral photos of a 14 mm specimen of Elysia pratensis from the island of Abaco, in the north-eastern Bahamas. The specimen was collected on July 6, 1991 by pulling a dredge through a Thalassia bed in 2.5 m on the lee side of Whale Cay, Abaco. Other specimens, the largest reaching 21 mm in length, have been collected in similar fashion from the same area.
I hope that these photos are useful.
Best wishes,
Colin Redfern
bahamianseashells@att.net
Redfern, C., 2002 (Jan 22) Re: Elysia from Florida. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6048Thanks Colin,
Your photos and information are very useful,
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
