Polycera cf. capensis from South Africa

January 31, 2003
From: Valda Fraser

Dear Bill,
Hoped to get a great shot of this Polycera capensis but the anterior end is troublesome! Sorry, best I could do!
Locality: Cape St Francis, Eastern Cape, South Africa, Depth: 20m, Size: 30mm. Date: Jan 2003

Regards,
Valda Fraser

valdafraser@mweb.co.za

Fraser, V., 2003 (Jan 31) Polycera cf. capensis from South Africa. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/9080

Thanks Valda,
I'm not sure if this is P. capensis. Your animal has 3 or 4 pairs of 'extrabranchial processes' [papillae around the gills], while P. capensis usually has one pair. I would be interested in knowing how variable the number of 'extrabranchial processes' is in populations of Polycera you have seen. In Terry Gosliner's book [Photo 174] he illustrates a specimen with 3 or 4 extrabranchial processes and suggests it may be an unnamed species but he also has photos of 'typical' P. capensis and P. quadrilineata and his Photo 174 could almost be an aberrant P. quadrilineata with extra 'extrabranchial processes'. I wonder if sometimes a few extra processes can occur in some of these species?
Cheers,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Jan 31). Comment on Polycera cf. capensis from South Africa by Valda Fraser. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/9080

Factsheet

Polycera capensis

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