Micromelo undatus

Micromelo undatus (Bruguière, 1792)

Micromelo undatus @ Gran Canaria by Aketza Herrero

Taxonomy

	Superdomain	Biota
	Kingdom	Animalia
	Phylum	Mollusca
	Class	Gastropoda
	Subclass	Heterobranchia
	Infraclass	Euthyneura
	Subterclass	Acteonimorpha
	Superfamily	Acteonoidea
	Family	Aplustridae
	Genus	Micromelo
	Species	Micromelo undatus (Bruguière, 1792)

	Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017) Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 140121).

Taxonomic note: the genus Micromelo (family Aplustridae) is found in almost all the tropical and subtropical seas of the world, with the exception of the American Pacific. Until recently, most authors considered the species Micromelo undatus (Bruguière, 1792) as the only valid in this genus. The study by Feliciano et al. (2021) Molecular and morphological analyzes reveal pseudocryptic diversity in Micromelo undatus (Bruguière, 1792) (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Aplustridae) examines the populations of specimens identified as M. undatus throughout their geographic range by using molecular techniques. The results revealed that M. undatus is a complex of four species with consistent genetic and anatomical differences. A review of the literature and an evaluation of the type material allowed three of the four species to be named: Micromelo guamensis (from the Western Pacific), M. undatus (from the Atlantic) and M. scriptus (from the Indo-Pacific). A new name is introduced for the fourth species, found in Philippine waters: Micromelo barbarae Feliciano, Malaquias, Stout, Brenzinger, Gosliner & Valdés, 2021.

Synonyms

Bulla elegans Menke, 1830
Bulla nitidula Dillwyn, 1817
Bulla undata Bruguière, 1792
Bullina elegans Menke, 1830
Micromelo undata [sic]

Description
Body very flat, of up to 40mm long, shape oval to elongate. Base color is white to translucent grey, covered with large, oval opaque white spots, densely arranged. Distance between spots about same size as the spots themselves. Mantle, rhinophores, and foot with a marginal yellow-orange band followed by a pale blue or green diffuse area. Headshield as long as wide, prominently narrower mid-length. White shell, ovalled but nearly round, almost as long as wide, coloured with red to brown lines forming a quite regular pattern. Rear side of the shell aperture forming a smooth rounded edge with apex, while the outer edge of the aperture is curved.

Biology
Found in shallow water (0-10 meters) on sandy or rocky ground, preferably on algal turf areas, and are common in rocky pools of the lower intertidal zone. Feeds on polychaete worms (Gosliner, 1987). This species is active both at day and night. Although it can retract into the shell, it does so very rarely. Under UV light the shell looks red while the body looks green.

Etimology

Undatus, from Latin “undatus”, ondulated.

Distribution
Ascension Island (Padula et al., 2017), Cape Verde (Valdés, 2005), Canary Islands (Moro et al., 2003), Azores (Nordsieck, 1972), the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, St. Lucia (Valdés et al., 2006), Jamaica (Feliciano et al., 2021), Curaçao (Feliciano et al., 2021), and Brazil (Padula et al., 2012).

Known georeferenced records of the species: Micromelo undatus
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:

Month

This chart displays the monthly observation probability for Micromelo undatus based on our own records.

More pictures

Bibliography

Steve Long, 2006

Bibliography of Opisthobranchia 1554-2000

Gary McDonald, 2009

Bibliographia Nudibranchia

Further reading

Cite this article as:

Ballesteros, M., Madrenas, E. & Pontes, M. (2022) "Micromelo undatus" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 20/02/2015. Accessed: 24/01/2022. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/BmPNu)

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Micromelo undatus