Home Guide to Opisthobranchs Cephalaspidea Haminoeoidea Haminoea exigua

Haminoea exigua

Haminoea exigua Schaefer, 1992

Haminoea exigua by Sandrine Bielecki

Taxonomy
 

Superdomain

Biota  

 

Kingdom

Animalia  

 

Phylum

Mollusca  

 

Class

Gastropoda  

 

Subclass

Heterobranchia  

 

Infraclass

Euthyneura  

 

Subterclass

Tectipleura  

 

Order

Cephalaspidea  

 

Superfamily

Haminoeoidea  

 

Family

Haminoeidae  

 

Genus

Haminoea  

 

Species

Haminoea exigua  (Schaefer, 1992)

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 140072).
Synonyms

  • Haminaea exigua Schaefer, 1992

Description
This is a small species of Haminoea (hence the specific name) that does not usually exceed 12-14 mm in length. The general coloration of the body is slightly yellowish but this color is masked by the numerous brown, red, orange and whitish scores and spots found throughout the body. The brown spots are irregular and sometimes are branched; in some specimens they are very abundant and lead to a general darkening of the body. White scores (iridiophores) may join together forming large irregular spots on the visceral mass area covered by the shell; on the head, these white scores are more abundant in the anterior margins of head shield. Orange scores (xanthophores) can also be seen mainly in the visceral mass area covered by the shell, which is semitransparent, and are very abundant and apparent in juvenile specimens. The head shield is slightly bilobulated in the anterior side while its posterior lobes are well developed. The eyes are at the center of two depigmented areas of the head shield, which is generally dark due to irregular brown spots. The parapodial lobes are quite short and cover only partially and laterally up to the middle of the shell when the animal is moving. The shell and visceral mass are truncated on the rear side. The posterior paleal lobe protrudes slightly behind the shell. The foot runs ventral until half of the shell, it is semi-transparent but also has brown spots and scattered white scores.

Biology
So far, the few observations of living individuals of this species have been in shallow marine sediments consist of fine sand, shell sand (Schaefer, 1992), among masses of algae such as Halopteris scoparia (Sanchez-Moyano et al. 2000) and also from rhizomes of Posidonia oceanica. The spawns have been observed in aquariums at Vienna University and consist of a C-shaped or slightly coiled ribbon of about 10 mm in length and 3.5 mm of height, containing eggs of about 60 microns in diameter; larvae hatch after six and a half days after spawning and they have an average length of 100 microns (Schaefer, 1992).

Etymology

  • Exigua. From Latin “Exiguus”, a little, a bit of, dreary, meager, scanty, petty, short, poor, small.

Distribution
This species is known only from the northern Adriatic Sea (peninsula of Istria in Croatia and the port of Ancona in Italy; Schaefer, 1992), from the Strait of Gibraltar, from Cape of Palos on the Mediterranean levantine coast of the Iberian Peninsula (Cervera et al., 2004) and from the coast of Catalonia, where it has been observed in different locations of the Costa Brava (Girona), in Mataro (Barcelona) and in Torredembarra (Tarragona).

Known georeferenced records of the species: Haminoea exigua
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 Haminoea exigua based on our own records.

Videos

 

More pictures

Haminoea exigua @ Penyes Roges 4/10/2014 by Enric Madrenas
Haminoea exigua @ Penyes Roges 4/10/2014 by Enric Madrenas
Haminoea exigua @ Penyes Roges 4/10/2014 by Enric Madrenas
Haminoea exigua @ Penyes Roges 4/10/2014 by Enric Madrenas
Haminoea exigua @ Penyes Roges 4/10/2014 by Enric Madrenas
Haminoea exigua @ Penyes Roges 4/10/2014 by Enric Madrenas
Haminoea exigua @ Penyes Roges 4/10/2014 by Enric Madrenas
Haminoea exigua @ Penyes Roges 4/10/2014 by Enric Madrenas
Haminoea exigua @ Penyes Roges 4/10/2014 by Enric Madrenas
Haminoea exigua @ Penyes Roges 4/10/2014 by Enric Madrenas
Haminoea exigua by José Carlos García Gómez
Haminoea exigua 23mm @ Omišalj, Croàcia 20cm
Haminoea exigua @ France by Pascal Girard

Bibliography

    Ballesteros, M., E. Madrenas, and M. Pontes. 2016. Actualización del catálogo de los moluscos opistobranquios (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) de las costas catalanas. Spira. 6: 1–28.
    Ballesteros, M., E. Madrenas, and M. Pontes. 2023. OPK - Opistobranquis. (https://opistobranquis.info/).
    Bielecki, S., G. Cavignaux, J. M. Crouzet, and S. Grall. 2011. Des limaces de rêve.
    Cervera, J. L., G. Calado, C. Gavaia, M. A. E. Malaquías, J. Templado, M. Ballesteros, J. C. García-Gómez, and C. Megina. 2004. An annotated and updated checklist of the opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Spain and Portugal (including islands and archipelagos). Boletín Instituto Español de Oceanografía, 20 (1-4): 1-111. L.
    Long, S. J. 2006. Bibliography of Opisthobranchia 1554-2000. Bayside Books & Press, Tustin, CA, U.S.A. 672p.
    McDonald, G. 2009. Bibliographia Nudibranchia. 2nd Online Edition, Annotated. 1072 pp  Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz. (http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8115h0wz).
    Prkić, J., A. Petani, Ð. Iglić, and L. Lanča. 2018. Stražnjoškržnjaci Jadranskoga Mora: Slikovni Atlas i Popis Hrvatskih Vrsta / Opisthobranchs of the Adriatic Sea: Photographic Atlas and List of Croatian Species. Ronilaćki Klub Sveti Roko, Bibinje.
    Rufray, X., P. Girard, S. Le Bris, T. Menut, C. Santarelli, and X. Salvador. 2021. Liste commentée des limaces de mer de la lagune de Thau, Hérault. Les cahiers de la fondation Biotope. 36: 1–189.
    Sánchez-Moyano, J. E., F. J. Estacio, E. M. García-Adiego, and J. C. García-Gómez. 2000. The molluscan epifauna of the alga Halopteris scorparia in Southern Spain as a bioindicator of coastal environmental conditions. Journal of Molluscan Studies 66: 431-448.
    Schaefer, K. 1992. Haminoea exigua (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia), a new cephalaspid species from the mediterraean Sea. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 58: 329–336.
    Templado, J., and R. Villanueva. 2010. Checklist of Phylum Mollusca. pp. 148-198 In Coll, M., et al., 2010. The biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: estimates, patterns, and threats. PLoS ONE 5(8):36pp.
    WoRMS Editorial Board. 2023. World Register of Marine Species. WoRMS. (http://www.marinespecies.org).

    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) "Haminoea exigua" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 19/09/2014. Accessed: 09/12/2023. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=14592)

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