Algarvia alba

Algarvia alba García-Gómez & Cervera, 1989

Algarvia alba @ L'Escala by Enric Madrenas

Description
The elongated body measures between 5 and 13 mm, it is coloured hyaline white with and opaque white pigment covering all the body but the foot, tips of cerata and head tentacles. Rhinophores are tappered and lamellated, with 5 oblique lamellae arched on the rear side. The two distal lamellae are incomplete on the rear side while the three basal ones are incomplete both on the front and rear sides. Rhinophores have a noticeable swelling over the upper lamella. Ahead of the rhinophores there is a considerably enlargement on the head, origin of the elongate oral tentacles. Most of the dorsal surface of the oral tentacles, a large portion of the cephalic enlargements surface, the upper part of rhinophores (including the two distal lamellae, but not the tips) and part of the anterior side of rhinophores are tinted in bright orange red. Cerata are arranged in single oblique rows, the first row with 5 cerata on each side, while the number of cerata decreases on successive rows towards the tail. Longest cerata (longer than the rhinophores and the oral tentacles) are the more dorsal ones. The foot is slightly wider than the body, it has a small notch on the anterior part while it ends in a pointed tail on the rear side. Foot corners are tentacular, about 2/3 of the length of the oral tentacles. The anus is located below the lower cerata between the 3rd and 4th ceratal rows on the right side of the body. Genitalia is also located on the right side, but at the pericardial level.

Biology
Specimens have been found on rocky bottoms with sand or silt, at depths from 13-15 meters. Due to its small size and scarcity, its food source and reproductive details are still unknown.

Etymology

• Algarvia, dedicated to the region of Algarve (Southern Portugal), where this species was discovered.
• Alba, from Latin “albus“, white, in reference to its white coloured body.

Distribution
This is a very scarce and elusive species. It has been found in only four localities so far: Sagres (Portugal) in May 1988 where it was first discovered, Getaria (Gipuzkoa, Spain) in July 2013 and at L’Escala (Girona, Spain) in February 2023. Fitori et al. (2024) report this species from Al-Bardi (Lybia), near the Egyptian border, on August 2023, the first report for the Eastern Mediterranean. Luis Sánchez Tocino reported this species from the coast of Granada in July 2026.

Videos

More pictures

Bibliography

1246567 Algarvia alba 1 eunomia-revista-en-cultura-de-la-legalidad 50 creator asc 1 37875 https://opistobranquis.info/wp-content/plugins/zotpress/
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

• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• Flickr pictures
• Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera
• Manex Cantalapiedra (Flickr)
• NCBI GenBank
• OBIS - Search by Taxon
• World Register of Marine Species

Cite this article as: