Home Guide to Opisthobranchs Nudibranchia Cladobranchia Aeolidioidea Phidiana lynceus

Phidiana lynceus

Phidiana lynceus  Bergh, 1867

Phidiana lynceus @ Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida by Anne DuPont

Taxonomy
 

Superdomain

Biota  

 

Kingdom

Animalia  

 

Phylum

Mollusca  

 

Class

Gastropoda  

 

Subclass

Heterobranchia  

 

Infraclass

Euthyneura  

 

Subterclass

Ringipleura  

 

Superorder

Nudipleura  

 

Order

Nudibranchia  

 

Suborder

Cladobranchia  

 

Superfamily

Aeolidioidea  

 

Family

Facelinidae  

 

Genus

Phidiana  

 

Species

Phidiana lynceus  Bergh, 1867

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 181239).
Synonyms

  • Phidiana brevicauda Engel, 1925
  • Phidiana selencae Bergh, 1879

Description
Elongated body up to 30 mm in length, has a great chromatic variability, which has led many misidentification of species that subsequently had to be synonimized with the original description by Rudolph Bergh. Some descriptions indicate that it has the back of orange color, with a blue stripe that runs down the middle of the back and orange sides, others describe the body of dark color, even greenish, but the most common pattern is translucent gray body color with a characteristic narrow, white dorsal midline, which bifurcates between the rhinophores and continues to the oral tentacles, and another white line running along the sides of the body, below the cerata. The front part of the foot is prominent and slightly rounded. The cerata are elongated, brown with a white tip. Oral tentacles are relatively long and have an orange pigmentation on the inner side, as surrounding the mouth. The rhinophores are ringed, have a translucent base, a more or less defined orange band in the middle and a yellowish tip. The coloration of the head, oral tentacles and rhinophores is very variable, which has caused some confusion in the taxonomy.

Biology
It feeds on the polyps of the hydrarian Myrionema amboinense (the animal is feeding on them in the video below), a species harboring zooxantella algae in its tissues. It is believed that Phidiana lynceus separates the photosynthetic zooxanthellae and the stinging nematocysts of the hydrarian before digesting it. Both types of cells remain active in the nudibranch tissues: zooxanthellae perform photosynthesis and complement the nutrition of the animal, while nematocysts migrate to the tips of the cerata where they are stored in the white tips (the cnidocysts) as a defence against potential predators. However, cases of attack and cannibalism have been observed in captive specimens, since the absence of hydrarians make them seeking food in other specimens of the same species, a behavior that seems to be quite common among larger aeolidaceans (Marcus, 1955: 471; Lance, 1962: 159; Edmunds, 1964: 18).

Etymology

  • Lynceus, from Latin “lyncea”, lynx, caracal.

Distribution
Phidiana lynceus is common in shallow waters, mangroves, rocky habitats and reefs. It has been cited in both the western coasts and the eastern coasts of the Atlantic Ocean: in the East it has been reported on the coast of Ghana and the Canary Islands (García-García et al., 2008; Skoglund, 2002) while the West it has been cited in Florida, Mexico (East coast of Yucatan), Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Bahamas, Jamaica, Virgin Islands, St. Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire and Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and the coast of São Paulo) in several papers (García-García et al, 2008;. Keen, 1971; Sanvicente-Añorve et al, 2012;. Skoglund, 2002; Valdes et al. 2006). There are some reports of this species in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Panama (Bertsch, 1979; Keen, 1971; Skoglund, 2002) and in Galapagos (James, 2013).

Known georeferenced records of the species: Phidiana lynceus
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 Phidiana lynceus based on our own records.

Videos

‘The Lynx Nudibranch’ from Coral Morphologic on Vimeo.

More pictures

Bibliography

    Abbott, R. T. 1974. American seashells. The marine mollusca of the Atlantic and Pacific coast of North America. Van Nostrand, New York. 663 pp., 24 pls. [October 1974].
    Ballesteros, M., E. Madrenas, and M. Pontes. 2023. OPK - Opistobranquis. (https://opistobranquis.info/).
    Bandel, K. 1976. Egg masses of 27 Caribbean opisthobranchs from Santa Marta, Columbia. Studies on the Neotropical Fauna & Environment 11(1-2):87-118.
    Behrens, D. W. 1991. Pacific Coast nudibranchs : a guide to the opisthobranchs, Alaska to Baja California. Sea Challengers, Monterey, Calif.
    Belcik, F. P. 1981. The male of Ismaila monstrosa Bergh, 1867 (Copepoda, Splanchnotrophidae). Crustaceana 40(1):16-25.
    Bergh, L. S. R. 1867. Phidiana lynceus og Ismaila monstrosa. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk Naturhistoriske Forening, Copenhagen, 1866(7-9): 97-130, pls. 3-4.
    Bergh, L. S. R. 1868. On Phidiana lynceus and Ismaila monstrosa. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., series 4, 2(8):133-138, pl 1.
    Bergh, L. S. R. 1898. Die Opisthobranchier der Sammlung Plate. Zoologische Jahrbucher Supplement 4(3):481-582, pls. 28-33.
    Bergh, L. S. R. 1879. Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Aeolidiaden. VI. Verhandlungen der koniglich-kaiserlich Zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien (Abhandlungen) 28:553- 584, pls. 6-8.
    Bergh, L. S. R. 1873. Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Aeolidiaden. I. Verhandlungen der koniglich-kaiserlich Zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien (Abhandlungen) 23(4):597-628, pls. 7-10.
    Bergh, L. S. R. 1890. Die cladohepatischen Nudibranchien. Zoologische Jahrbucher, Abtheilung fur Systematik Geographie und Biologie der Thiere 5:1-75.
    Bergh, L. S. R. 1908. Malacologische Untersuchungen, In: Reisen im Archipel der Philippinen von Dr Carl Gottfried Semper. Zweiter Theil. Wissenschaftliche Resultate. Band 9, Theil 6, Heft 3; pp 119-181, pls. 9-12.
    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].
    Bertsch, H. 1979. Tropical faunal affinities of opisthobranchs from the Panamic Province (eastern Pacific). Nautilus 93(2-3):57- 61.
    Bertsch, A. J. H., and Ferreira. 1974. Four new species of nudibranchs from tropical West America. The Veliger 16(4): 343-353.
    Caballer, M., J. Ortea, N. Rivero, G. Carias-Tucker, M. A. E. Malaquías, and S. Narciso. 2015. The opisthobranch gastropods (Mollusca: Heterobranchia) from Venezuela: an annotated and illustrated inventory of species. Zootaxa 4034 (2): 201–256.
    Carmona, L., M. Pola, T. M. Gosliner, and J. L. Cervera. 2015. Protaeolidiella atra Baba, 1955 versus Pleurolidia juliae Burn, 1966: One or two species? Helgol Mar Res 69:137-145.
    Carmona, L., M. Pola, T. M. Gosliner, and J. L. Cervera. 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.
    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.
    Debelius, H., and R. H. Kuiter. 2007. Nudibranchs of the world. IKAN- Unterwasserarchiv, Frankfurt.
    Edmunds, M. 2015. Opisthobranchiate Mollusca from Ghana, Aeolidiidae, with consideration of several caribbean species. Journal of Conchology Vol. 42(2): 125-161.
    Edmunds, M. 1966. Protective mechanisms in the Eolidacea (Mollusca, Nudibranchia). Journal of the Linnean Society (Zoology) 46(308):27-71, pls. 1-4.
    Edmunds, M. 1977. Larval development, oceanic currents, and origins of the Opisthobranch fauna of Ghana. Journal of Molluscan studies 43:301-308.
    Edmunds, M. 1991. Does warning coloration occur in nudibranchs. Malacologia 32(2):241-255.
    Edmunds, M. 1964. Eolid Mollusca from Jamaica, with the description of two new genera and three new species. Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean 14 (1): 1-32.
    Edmunds, M., and H. Just. 1983. Eolid nudibranchiate mollusca from Barbados. Journal of Molluscan Studies 49 (3): 185-203.
    Frank, B. et al. 1998. Phidiana lynceus accessed through: JaxShells.org on 2014-12-14. (http://www.jaxshells.org/alyn.htm).
    Garcia, F. J., and H. Bertsch. 2009. Diversity and distribution of the Gastropoda Opisthobranchia from the Atlantic Ocean: A global biogeographic approach. Scientia Marina. 73: 153–160.
    García García, F. J., J. M. Dominguez Álvarez, and J. S. Troncoso. 2008. Opistobranquios de Brasil. Feito S.L.
    Goodheart, J., A. L. Bazinet, Á. Valdés, A. G. Collins, and M. P. Cummings. 2017. Prey preference follows phylogeny: evolutionary dietary patterns within the marine gastropod group Cladobranchia (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Nudibranchia). BMC Evolutionary Biology (2017) 17:221.
    Goodheart, J. A., R. A. Ellingson, X. G. Vital, H. C. Galvão Filho, J. B. McCarthy, S. M. Medrano, V. J. Bhave, K. García-Méndez, L. M. Jiménez, G. López, C. A. Hoover, J. D. Awbrey, J. M. De Jesus, W. Gowacki, P. J. Krug, and Á. Valdés. 2016. Identification guide to the heterobranch sea slugs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Bocas del Toro, Panama. Marine Biodiversity Records. 9: 56.
    Hecht, E. 1896. Contribution e l’etude des nudibranches. Memoires de la Societe Zoologique de France 8:539- 711, pls. 1-5.
    James, M. J. 2013. Galápagos Marine Invertebrates: Taxonomy, Biogeography, and Evolution in Darwin’s Islands. Springer Science & Business Media.
    Karmeinski, D., K. Meusemann, J. Goodheart, M. Schrödl, A. V. Martynov, T. Korshunova, H. Wägele, and A. Donath. 2021. Transcriptomics provides a robust framework for the relationships of the major clades of cladobranch sea slugs (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Heterobranchia), but fails to resolve the position of the enigmatic genus Embletonia. BMC Ecology and Evolution. 21: 226–243.
    Keen, A. M. 1971. Sea shells of tropical west America: marine mollusks from Baja California to Peru, Edition 2, xiv + 1064, 22 pls. Stanford University Press.
    Long, S. J. 2006. Bibliography of Opisthobranchia 1554-2000. Bayside Books & Press, Tustin, CA, U.S.A. 672p.
    Marcus, E. G. 1955. Opisthobranchia from Brazil. Boletim da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciencias e Letras, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Zoology, 207, 20:89-261, pls. 1-30.
    Marcus, E. d. B. R. 1977. An annotated checklist of the western Atlantic warm water opisthobranchs. J. Molluscan Stud., Suppl 4:1-23.
    Marcus, Er. 1957. On opisthobranchia from Brazil 2. Journal of the Linnean Society of London (Zoology) 43(292): 390-486.
    Marcus, Ev., and H. P. I. Hughes. 1974. Opisthobranch mollusks from Barbados. Bulletin of Marine  Science 24(3):498-532.
    Marcus, E. d. B. R., and E. G. Marcus. 1962. Opisthobranchs from Florida and the Virgin Islands. Bull. Mar. Sci. Gulf & Caribbean 12(3):450-488.
    Marcus, E. d. B. R., and E. G. Marcus. 1963. Opisthobranchs from the Lesser Antilles. Studies on the Fauna of Curacao and other Caribbean Islands 19(79):1-76.
    Marcus, E. d. B. R., and E. G. Marcus. 1964. Verzeichnis der euthyneuren Meeresschneken Brasiliens. Beitrage zur Neotropischen Fauna 3(3):195-206.
    Marcus, E. d. B. R., and E. G. Marcus. 1967. American opisthobranch mollusks Part I, Tropical American opisthobranchs. Studies in Tropical Oceanography, Miami 6(1-2):vii + 1-256, 1 pl.
    Marcus, Er., and Ev. Marcus. 1970. Opisthobranchs from Curaçao and faunistically related regions. Studies on the fauna of Curaçao and other Caribbean Islands. 33: 1–129.
    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).
    Moro, L., J. L. Martín Esquivel, M. J. Garrido Sanahuja, and I. Izquierdo Zamora. 2003. Lista de especies marinas de Canarias (algas, hongos, plantas y animales). Consejería de Política Territorial y Medio Ambiente del Gobierno de Canarias.
    Muniain, C., and J. Ortea. 1999. First records of the genus Berghia Trinchese, 1877 (Opisthobranchia: Aeolidiidae) from Argentina, with description of a new species. Avicennia 10-11: 143-150.
    Ortea, J., and L. Moro. 1997. Redescripción y nueva posición sistemática de Phidiana longicirrha Eliot, 1906 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia: Aeolidacea). Revista de la Academia Canaria de Ciencias 9 (2, 3 and 4): 107-118.
    Ortea, J., and L. Moro. 2019. Las babosas marinas de las islas de Cabo Verde en el tiempo: Cronología de su descubrimiento. Avicennia. 25: 1–36.

    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:

Pontes, Miquel, Manuel Ballesteros, Enric Madrenas (2023) "Phidiana lynceus" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 15/03/2016. Accessed: 30/03/2023. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/Ju4wZ)

To copy this cite click on the right button.