Petalifera petalifera

Petalifera petalifera (Rang, 1828)

Petalifera petalifera by Enric Madrenas

Taxonomy
 

Superdomain

Biota  

 

Kingdom

Animalia  

 

Phylum

Mollusca  

 

Class

Gastropoda  

 

Subclass

Heterobranchia  

 

Infraclass

Euthyneura  

 

Subterclass

Tectipleura  

 

Order

Aplysiida  

 

Superfamily

Aplysioidea  

 

Family

Aplysiidae  

 

Genus

Petalifera  

 

Species

Petalifera petalifera  (Rang, 1828)

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 139597).
Synonyms

  • Aplysia brugnatelli van Beneden & Robb, 1835
  • Aplysia depressa Cantraine, 1835
  • Aplysia petalifera Rang, 1828 (original)
  • Aplysia unguifera Rang, 1828
  • Aplysia webbii van Beneden & Robb, 1835
  • Phyllaplysia depressa (Cantraine, 1835)

Description
The specimens of this species can measure up to 40 mm in length, but the most common size is between 15 and 25 mm in length. The body is very flat, almost in leaf shaped, and the background color is green but with numerous brown scores and irregular white spots. This coloration may vary depending on the type of algae where it lives: when located on new (the animal color is predominantly green) or old (the dorsum of the animal has many white spots) Posidonia oceanica leaves. There are two auriculate rhinophores on the head, joined at their base. The parapodia are short, cover the entire back and are completely fused but for a dorsal rear hole. In the center of the back and covered by the mantle and parapodia there is a calcified, fragile, whitish, translucent shell.

Descriptive note: As stated by different authors, P. petalifera and the related species Phyllaplysia lafonti due to the the similarity of their morphology and variability in coloration, may have been repeatedly confused in literature previous to 1980. In any case, P. lafonti has a characteristic color pattern of alternate light and dark concentric bands not present in P. petalifera.

Biology
In the Mediterranean sea P. petalifera lives closely associated with the leaves and rhizomes of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica. It has mainly nocturnal habbits. Its shape and color pattern makes it very cryptic on the leaves and quite difficult to locate. Outside the Mediterranean it has been located on the stipes of algae of the genus Caulerpa and Padina (Canarias; Ortea & Martinez, 1991) and Enteromorpha and Sargassum (Barbados, Marcus & Hughes, 1974). It is not clear whether it feeds on the cited algae or P. oceanica or the microalgae felt that lives on them.

Etymology

  • Petalifera. From Greek “petalon”, petal + “pherein”, to carry, to bring.

Distribution
This is an amfiatlantic species as it has been found in the Caribbean (Miloslavich et al. 2010), in the European Atlantic coasts and in the eastern Mediterranean (Koukouras, 2010). In the Iberian Peninsula it has been cited in the Portuguese coast and the Mediterranean coast, also in the Balearic Islands, Madeira and Azores (Cervera et al. 2004). In Catalonia it has been reported at Es Caials, Cadaqués, L’Escala, Cala Aiguafreda Cala Margarida, Tossa de Mar and Blanes.

Known georeferenced records of the species: Petalifera petalifera
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 Petalifera petalifera based on our own records.

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More pictures

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. (2023) "Petalifera petalifera" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 15/05/2012. Accessed: 19/03/2024. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=372)

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