Home Guide to Opisthobranchs Cephalaspidea Philinoidea Camachoaglaja africana

Camachoaglaja africana

Camachoaglaja africana  (Pruvot-Fol, 1953)

Camachoaglaja africana by Enric Madrenas

Taxonomy
 

Superdomain

Biota  

 

Kingdom

Animalia  

 

Phylum

Mollusca  

 

Class

Gastropoda  

 

Subclass

Heterobranchia  

 

Infraclass

Euthyneura  

 

Subterclass

Tectipleura  

 

Order

Cephalaspidea  

 

Superfamily

Philinoidea  

 

Family

Aglajidae  

 

Genus

Camachoaglaja  

 

Species

Camachoaglaja africana  (Pruvot-Fol, 1953)

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 1055234).
Taxonomic note: Traditionally classified in the genus Chelidonura  A. Adams, 1850 based on its morphologic features, the paper by Zamora-Silva & Malaquias (2017) place it in the new genus Camachoaglaja, based on molecular analysis.

Synonyms

  • Chelidonura italica Sordi, 1980
  • Chelidonura leopoldoi Ortea, Moro & Espinosa, 1997
  • Chelidonura africana Pruvot-Fol, 1953

Description
This species of cephalaspidean can reach about 25 mm in length (Gofas et al., 2001), although most field observations reach only 10-15 mm. As in other family members, the body has a head shield in the anterior side, a mantle, the lateral parapodia partially covering the two previous areas and the foot. The background color of the body is homogeneous dark brown covered with very thin white spots that tend to accumulate on the back end of the head shield forming a wide white band. There could be accumulations of white spots on the mantle zone. Some specimens may have so many white spots that seem to be albino. The head shield occupies more than half the total length of the body and its front edge difference 4 bundles of sensory setae. The eyes are located in the anterior dorsum of the head shield. The back of the mantle has two caudal lobes, the one on the left being longer and ending in a sharp tip, trait referred in the genus name. The parapodia are well developed, they are of the same color as the body and its upper edge is colored orange or yellow. There are rounded turquoise spots on the side walls of the parapodia, that can also be seen in the posterior lobes of the mantle and in the tail. The above areas of the head shield are usually depigmented and semi-transparent.

Biology
C.africana lives in shallow rocky substrates rich with algae and invertebrates, among which it is easily overlooked. It has also been cited in Posidonia oceanica meadows (Marin, 1988). Like other species of the family, it is a voracious predator that it has been found feeding on small marine flatworms. This species has often been cited under the name of Chelidonura italica Sordi, 1980, which is now considered synonymous with C.africana.

Etymology

  • Camachoaglaja, named after Yolanda Camacho-García for her studies on the phylogeny of Aglajidae gastropods and for being the first to reveal the existence of this clade of exclusively Atlantic species.
  • Africana. Related to Africa, where the first specimens were presumably collected.

Distribution
This species has been cited in the western Mediterranean, the Atlantic coast of North Africa, in the Açores, Canary islands and Madeira. In the Iberian Peninsula it has been observed off the coast of Portugal, the Strait of Gibraltar, on the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, in the Levant region and in Catalonia, where it has been cited in Cadaques, L’Escala and Cala Margarida (Palamós).

Known georeferenced records of the species: Camachoaglaja africana
Sources:
: OBIS
: GROC 2010-2011
: Enric Madrenas
: João Pedro Silva
: Bernard Picton
: GBIF.ORG		 : OPK
: VIMAR
: Manuel Ballesteros.
: M@re Nostrum
: Altres fonts
: Marine Regions

Abundance

    Western Mediterranean: ★☆☆☆☆
    Eastern Mediterranean: ☆☆☆☆☆
    Atlantic Ocean: ★☆☆☆☆
[wpbi_chart type="bar" id="1" height="250" /]
Month

This chart displays the monthly observation probability for Camachoaglaja africana based on our own records.

More pictures

Camachoaglaja africana by Antoni López-Arenas
Camachoaglaja africana @ Malta by Constantino Mifsud
Camachoaglaja africana head detail @ Malta by Constantino Mifsud
Camachoaglaja africana by José Carlos García Gómez

Bibliography

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    Bibliography based on the works by Steve Long, 2006. Bibliography of Opisthobranchia 1554-2000 and Gary McDonald, 2009. Bibliographia Nudibranchia, with later updates from other resources.

Further reading

Cite this article as:

Ballesteros, M., Madrenas, E. & Pontes, M. (2012-2025) "Camachoaglaja africana" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 14/05/2012. Accessed: 03/02/2025. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=243)