Aeolidiella alderi

Aeolidiella alderi (Cocks, 1852)

Aeolidiella alderi by Pontes, Miquel

Taxonomy
 

Superdomain

Biota  

 

Kingdom

Animalia  

 

Phylum

Mollusca  

 

Class

Gastropoda  

 

Subclass

Heterobranchia  

 

Infraclass

Euthyneura  

 

Subterclass

Ringipleura  

 

Superorder

Nudipleura  

 

Order

Nudibranchia  

 

Suborder

Cladobranchia  

 

Superfamily

Aeolidioidea  

 

Family

Aeolidiidae  

 

Genus

Aeolidiella  

 

Species

Aeolidiella alderi  (Cocks, 1852)

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 138710).
Synonyms

  • Aeolidiella soemmeringii Bergh, 1882
  • Aeolidiella soemmeringii var. mediterranea Bergh, 1885
  • Eolidia soemmeringii Leuckart, 1828
  • Eolis alderi Cocks, 1852 (original)

Description
It is an aeolidacean that can measure up to 30 mm in length. The body is white but the head and the back usually have a light orange pigmentation on the surface. Oral palps are semi-transparent and pigmented orange at the tip, the intensity of the color deppends on the specimens. Both rhinophores grow very close together on the head, they are relatively short and smooth and they look like the somewhat longer oral palps. The eyes can be well appreciated in the rear area of the base of the rhinophores. The most characteristic trait of the species of this genus is the large number of cerata that homogeneously cover the back of the animal, with no apparent separation between the different groups. There are 12 to 13 groups of cerata on each side of the body in the largest specimens, the cerata of the first group located far ahead, its insertion in the body can be even ahead of the base of the rhinophores. The cerata are slightly curved into the body, they are somewhat flat at the base and sharpened apically, where the cnidosac could be clearly seen. The digestive gland can be seen through the semitransparent tegument of the cerata as a solid or wavy mass colored brown or dark olive green. In some specimens the general coloration of the body is very clear, creamy white, because the digestive gland has this color. The end of the larger cerata could be slightly pigmented in orange. The first group of cerata are smaller and are usually quite depigmented because the digestive gland inside the cerata only occupies their base. The foot is quite wide and semitransparent and in its anterior zone has a pair of short triangular propodial tentacles whose tip could be slightly pigmented in orange. At the back zone the foot forms a short, narrow tail, extending below the last cerata.

Biology
This species lives in shallow waters, on the underside of stones in the intertidal and upper subtidal zone. It feeds on different species of actiniarians, the following have been cited: Actinothoe anguicoma, A.sphyrodeta, Aiptasia mutabilis, Anemonia viridis, Bunodactis verrucosa, Cereus pedunculatus, Diadumene cincta, Metridium senile, Parastephanauge paxi, Sagartia elegans, S.troglodytes, Sagartiogeton laceratus and S.undatus. Marin & amp; Ros (1991) cited the presence of symbiont and photosynthetically active zooxanthellae algae in the body tissues of this species, that were acquired by the nudibranch from the actiniarians it preys on. The spawn is composed of a heavily scalloped and inward-cord that contains numerous white eggs about 200 microns in diameter (Schmekel&Portmann, 1982). The animals lay the eggmass on the lower side of the stones. The eggs of this species have direct development, with no free larval stage. As in other species of the same family, some specimens may be parasitized by copepods that lay their eggs between the cerata of the nudibranch.

Etymology

  • Aeolidiella refers to an Aeolidia (another genus of the same family Aeolidiidae) of a smaller size.
  • alderi: honors J. Alder, british opisthobranch specialist from XIX century, highly renowned and, along with Hancock, author of the famous monograph on british nudibranchs (Alder, J. &. Hancock, A. 1845-1855. A monograph of the British nudibranchiate Mollusca: with figures of all the species. Pt. 1-7. Ray Society, London).

Distribution

This is a strictly European species found from the shores of the Mediterranean to the North Sea. It has been cited in all coastal areas of the Atlantic and Mediterranean Iberian Peínsula. In the Catalan coast it has been observed in Portlligat (Cadaqués), Cala Fosca (Palamos), Cala Santa Cristina (Lloret), Cala Sant Francesc and Punta de Santa Anna (Blanes) and Cubelles.

Known georeferenced records of the species: Aeolidiella alderi
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

Similar species
Spurilla neapolitana shares habitat and appearance. Cuthona granosa similar to juveniles of A.alderi.

Abundance

    Western Mediterranean: ★★☆☆☆
    Eastern Mediterranean: ★☆☆☆☆
    Atlantic Ocean: ★★★☆☆
Month

This chart displays the monthly observation probability for Aeolidiella alderi based on our own records.

Videos

 

More pictures

Bibliography

    Baba K. 1979. Brief comment on the identification of a nudibranchiate mollusk, Aeolidiella takanosimensis Baba, 1930, from Amakusa, Japan (Eolidoidea: Aeolidiidae). Publications of the Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory, Kyushu University 5(1):1-7.
    Baba K. 1979. Short account of the anatomy of a nudibranchiate mollusk; Aeolidiella takanosimensis Baba, 1930 from Japan (Eolidoidea: Aeolidiidae). Veliger 22(1):12-18.
    Ballesteros M. 1980. Nueva aportacion al conocimiento de los Sacoglosos y Nudibranquios de las costas Mediterraneas espanolas. II Congreso Nacional de Malacologia, Sociedad Espana de Malacologia, Barcelona, 1 pg.
    Ballesteros M. 1984. Adiciones a la fauna de opistobranquios de Cubellas (Tarragona). Miscelánea Zoológica 8: 41-49.
    Ballesteros M. 1982. Nota preliminar sobre la fauna de nudibranquios de la isla de Ibiza. Actas II Simposio Ibérico de Estudios del Bentos Marino 3: 229-234.
    Ballesteros M. 2007. Lista actualizada de los opistobranquios (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) de las costas catalanas. Spira. 2(3):163–188.
    Ballesteros M. 1980. Contribución al conocimientos de los Sacoglosos y Nudibranquios (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia). Estudio anatómico, sistemático y faunístico de las especies del mediterráneo español. Tesis Doctoral. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona.
    Ballesteros M, Ortea J. 1980. Contribución al conocimiento de los Dendrodorididae (Moluscos: Opisthobranquios: Doridaceos) del litoral iberico. Publicaciones del Departamento de Zoología, Universidad de Barcelona, Facultad de Biología. 5:25–37.
    Ballesteros M, Barrajón A, Luque A, et al. 1986. Contribución al conocimiento de los Moluscos Gasterópodos marinos de Almería. Iberus, 6: 39-57.
    Ballesteros M, Álvarez C, Mateo B. 1986. Aproximación a la fauna de opistobranquios de la isla de Menorca. Publicaciones del Departamento de Zoología (Barcelona) 12: 93-106.
    Ballesteros M, Pontes M, Madrenas E. 2015. Opisthobranch from Medes Islands (Marine Protected Area, Costa Brava, Catalonia, NE Spain): 40 years of study. Available from https://www.facebook.com/people/5th-International-Workshop-on-Opisthobranchs/100072425991990/.
    Ballesteros M, Madrenas E, Pontes M. 2016. Actualización del catálogo de los moluscos opistobranquios (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) de las costas catalanas. Spira. 6:1–28.
    Ballesteros M, Madrenas E, Pontes M. 2023. OPK - Opistobranquis. Available from https://opistobranquis.info/.
    Ballesteros M, Pontes M, Madrenas E. 2019. Els nudibranquis del mar català. Figueres: Brau Edicions. 192 p.
    Barash A, Zenziper Z. 1984. On the food of some opisthobranchs found in the Mediterranean waters of Israel. Levantina (Israel Malacological Society) 51:585-598.
    Barletta G. 1981. Gasteropodi nudi (Pleurobranchomorpha, Sacoglossa, Aplysiomorpha e Nudibranchia) Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche, Guide per il riconoscimento delle specie animali delle acque lagunari e costiere italiane AQ/1/92, 3. Quaderni della Civica Stazione Idrobiologica di Milano (9):1-124.
    Bedulli D, Cattaneo-Vietti R, Chemello R, et al. 1995. Gastropoda Opisthobranchia, Divasibranchia, Gymnomorpha, Fascicolo 15, pp. 1-23.  In: A. Minelli, A. Ruffo, & S. La Posta (Eds.). Checklist delle specie fauna italiana. Bologna: Calderini (Checklist delle specie della Fauna Italiana).
    Bergh LSR. 1874. Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Aeolidiaden. II. Verhandlungen der koniglich-kaiserlich Zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien (Abhandlungen) 24:395-416, pls. 8-11.
    Bergh LSR. 1867. Phidiana lynceus og Ismaila monstrosa. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistoriske Forening, Copenhagen, 1866(7-9): 97-130, pls. 3-4.
    Bergh LSR. 1868. On Phidiana lynceus and Ismaila monstrosa. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., series 4, 2(8):133-138, pl 1.
    Bergh LSR. 1904. Malacologische Untersuchungen. In: Reisen im Archipel der Philippinen von Dr. Carl Gottfried Semper. Zweiter Theil. Wissenschaftliche Resultate, Vol. 9, Chapter 6, Part 1: 1-56, pls. 1-4.
    Bergh LSR. 1888. Malacologische Untersuchungen, In: Reisen im Archipel der Philippinen von Dr Carl Gottfried Semper. Zweiter Theil. Wissenschaftliche Resultate. Band 2, Theil 3, Heft 16, 1 Halfte; pp 755-814, pls. 77-81.
    Bergh LSR. 1882. Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Aeolidiaden. VII. Verhandlungen der koniglich-kaiserlich Zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien (Abhandlungen) 32:7-74, pls. 1-6.
    Bergh LSR. 1890. Die cladohepatischen Nudibranchien. Zoologische Jahrbucher, Abtheilung fur Systematik Geographie und Biologie der Thiere 5:1-75.
    Bergh R. 1892. System der Nudibranchiaten Gasteropoden. Malacologische Untersuchungen. In: Reisen im Archipel der Philippinen von Dr. Carl Gottfried Semper. Zweiter Theil#Wissenschaftliche Resultate. Band 7, Theil 5. [pp. 1–51, pls 1–4, Mar. 1897; pp. 53–115, pls 5–8, Dec. 1897; pp. 117–158, pls 9–12, Nov. 1898; pp. 159–208, pls 13–16, 27 Mar. 1900; pp. 209–256, pls 17–20, 29 Jan. 1901; pp. 257–312, pls. 21–24, 15 Oct. 1901; pp. 313–382, pls 25–29, 7 Oct. 1902].
    Bergh LSR. 1878. Malacologische Untersuchungen, In: Reisen im Archipel der Philippinen von Dr Carl Gottfried Semper. Zweiter Theil. Wissenschaftliche Resultate. Band 2, Theil 2, Heft 14; pp 603-645, I-L, pls. 66-68.
    Betti F, Bavestrello G, Cattaneo-Vietti R. 2021. Preliminary evidence of fluorescence in Mediterranean heterobranchs. Journal of Molluscan Studies. 87:eyaa040. https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/eyaa040.
    Bickell LR, Chia F-S. 1979. Organogenesis and histogenesis in the planktotrophic veliger of Doridella steinbergae (Opisthobranchia, Nudibranchia). Marine Biology 52(4):291-313.
    Bickell LR, Kempf SC. 1983. Larval and metamorphic morphogenesis in the nudibranch Melibe leonina (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia). Biol. Bull. 165(1):119-138. https://doi.org/10.2307/1541359.
    Bielecki S, Cavignaux G, Crouzet JM, et al. 2011. Des limaces de rêve.
    Brown GH. 1981. Aeolidiella Bergh, 1867 (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia): proposals to clarify the type species of the genus. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 38(4):294-296.
    Brown GH, Picton BE. 1971. Nudibranchs of the British Isles – a colour guide.
    Brown GH, Picton BE. 1979. Nudibranchs of the British Isles — a colour guide. Underwater Conservation Society, Manchester, by R. Earll. 30 p.
    Calado G, Urgorri V, Gaspar R, et al. 1999. Catálogo de los moluscos opistobranquios bentónicos de las costas de Setúbal-Espichel (Portugal). Nova Acta Científica Compostelana (Bioloxía) 9: 285-294.
    Calado G, Malaquias M, Gavaia C, et al. 2003. New data on opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from the southwestern coast of Portugal. Boletín Instituto Español de Oceanografía 19 (1-4): 199-204.
    Carmona L, Pola M, Gosliner TM, et al. 2013. A tale that morphology fails to tell: A molecular phylogeny of Aeolidiidae (Aeolidida, Nudibranchia, Gastropoda). PLoS ONE 8(5): e63000. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063000.
    Cattaneo-Vietti R, Barletta G. 1984. Elenco preliminare dei molluschi opistobranchi viventi nel Mediterraneo (Sacoglossa, Pleurobranchomorpha, Acochlidiacea, Aplysiomorpha, Nudibranchia). Bollettino Malacologico (Pubblicazione Mensile Edita dalla Societa Italiana di Malacologia) 20(9-12):195-218.
    Cattaneo-Vietti R, Chemello R. 1991. The opisthobranch fauna of a Mediterranean lagoon (Stagnone di Marsala, western Sicily). Malacologia 32(2):291-299.
    Cattaneo-Vietti R, Chemello R. 1987. Alcune considerazioni sui molluschi opistobranchi della Sicilia. Bollettino Malacologico (Pubblicazione Mensile Edita dalla Societa Italiana di Malacologia) 23(5-8):207-222.
    Cattaneo-Vietti R, Thompson TE. 1989. Mediterranean opisthobranch molluscs: a zoogeographic approach. Bollettino Malacologico (Pubblicazione Mensile Edita dalla Societa Italiana di Malacologia) 25(5-8):183-204.
    Cattaneo-Vietti R, Chemello R, Giannuzzi-Savelli R. 1990. Atlas of Mediterranean Nudibranchs. Rome, Italy: La Conchiglia. 264 p.
    Cervera JL, García-Gómez JC. 1986. Moluscos opistobranquios del litoral occidental andaluz: nuevas aportaciones faunísticas. Iberus 6 (2): 201-207.
    Cervera JL, Calado G, Gavaia C, et al. 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.
    Cesari P. 1990. La malacofauna della Laguna Veneta - 2. I gasteropodi bullomorfi, aplisiomorfi, sacoglossi, pleurobranchomorfi e nudibranchi. Malacofauna of the Venice Lagoon: 2. Bullomorph, aplysiomorph, sacoglossan, pleurobranch, and nudibranch gastropods. Bollettino del Museo Civico de Storia Naturale di Venezi 39:21-43.
    Chemello R. 1986. Studio della malacofauna costiera dell’Isola di Ustica (Gastropoda). Lavori della Societa Italiana di Malacologia 22:51-76.
    Chevalier F, Mocquard JP, Tardy J. 1974. Croissance et precocite d’Aeolidiella alderi (Cocks), (Mollusque nudibranche): Effets du groupement et de la temperature. Bulletin de la Societe Zoologique de France 99(4):601-621.
    Cocks WP. 1852. New species of Mollusca. Naturalist 2: 1.
    Colgan N. 1914. The opisthobranch fauna of the shores and shallow waters of County Dublin. Irish Naturalist 23:161-204.
    Crocetta F, Zibrowius H, Bitar G, et al. 2013. Biogeographical homogeneity in the eastern Mediterranean Sea - I: the opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Lebanon. Mediterranean Marine Science, Vol 14, no.2.
    Crocetta F, Bitar G, Zibrowius H, et al. 2020. Increase in knowledge of the marine gastropod fauna of Lebanon since the 19th century. Bulletin of Marine Science. 96(1):1–22. https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2019.0012.

    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) "Aeolidiella alderi" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 16/05/2012. Accessed: 28/03/2024. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=566)

To copy this cite click on the right button.