Noalda sp. 1
Order: CEPHALASPIDEA
Superfamily: PHILINOIDEA
Family: Aglajidae
PHOTO
Pulau Hoga, Tukang Besi Archipelago, SE Sulawesi, Indonesia, 3 November 1999 at a depth of 38 ft crawling over rubble and filamentous algae. Size: 6 mm. Photo: Lindsay Warren.
This looks very like some drawings of an animal identified by Bob Burn as Noalda exigua Iredale, 1936, a species originally described from Australia from an empty shell. See Burn & Thompson (1998) Order Cephalaspidea In The Southern Synthesis: 943-959 - [Fig 16-31].
I suspect the crescent shaped mark on the posterior shield is an opening to the shell cavity. In Noalda exigua this is a much larger opening. Noalda is considered by Burn & Thompson to be an aglajid but I know of no information on its anatomy.
Authorship detailsRudman, W.B., 2002 (July 2) Noalda sp. 1 [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/noalsp1
Related messages
Noalda sp. 1 from the Red Sea
October 19, 2005
From: Oren Lederman
Hi Bill,
Found this little one last week. It's actually the second one I've seen around here, only this time with a working camera...
Locality: "The University", Eilat Bay, Israel, [Gulf of Aqaba], Red Sea. Depth: ~20 meters.
Length: ~6-8 mm. 23 Sep 2005. Photographer: Oren Lederman
Oren Lederman
lederman@bigmail.co.il
Lederman, O., 2005 (Oct 19) Noalda sp. 1 from the Red Sea. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14875
Dear Oren,
Thanks for another set of photos of this interesting animal. As with Binyamin Koretz's mystery aglajid [message #14269] we are stumped until we can look at the anatomy of an animal and fit a shell to the photo.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Noalda sp? from SE Sulawesi, Indonesia
July 5, 2002
From: Lindsey Warren
Dear Bill
I found this super little chap (OWN204) at 7.30am on 3 November 1999 at a depth of 38 ft crawling over rubble and filamentous algae on one of the walls of Pulau Hoga [Tukang Besi Archipelago, SE Sulawesi, Indonesia - Operation Wallacea ]. Size: 6 mm.
The body is completely speckled white with the edges to the parapodia, the head shield and tails being more a solid white. Two eye spots are visible beneath the head shield on either side of the head. There is a narrow opening towards the rear of the centre section of the body which is rounded and it looked as if there might be a shell there. This opening occasionally contracted. The right tail is shorter than the left and both are rounded. When in mid water it occasionally flapped its parapodia but did not seem to do this consistently.
Photos: Lindsay Warren.
Have you seen him before?
All the best
Lindsay Warren
alldcl@compuserve.com
Warren, L., 2002 (Jul 5) Noalda sp? from SE Sulawesi, Indonesia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6151Dear Lindsay,
No I haven't seen this before but it looks very like some drawings of an animal identified by Bob Burn as Noalda exigua Iredale, 1936, a species originally described from Australia from an empty shell. See Burn & Thompson (1998) Order Cephalaspidea In The Southern Synthesis: 943-959 - [Fig 16-31].
It is an interesting find. I suspect the crescent shaped mark on the posterior shield is an opening to the shell cavity. In Noalda exigua this is a much larger opening. Noalda is considered by Burn & Thompson to be an aglajid but I know of no information on its anatomy
Cheers,
Bill Rudman
