Home Guide to Opisthobranchs Pleurobranchida Pleurobranchus forskalii

Pleurobranchus forskalii

Pleurobranchus forskalii (Ruppell & Leuckart, 1828)

Pleurobranchus forskalii (www.nudibranch.org) by Jim Anderson

Taxonomy
 

Superdomain

Biota  

 

Kingdom

Animalia  

 

Phylum

Mollusca  

 

Class

Gastropoda  

 

Subclass

Heterobranchia  

 

Infraclass

Euthyneura  

 

Subterclass

Ringipleura  

 

Superorder

Nudipleura  

 

Order

Pleurobranchida  

 

Superfamily

Pleurobranchoidea  

 

Family

Pleurobranchidae  

 

Genus

Pleurobranchus  

 

Species

Pleurobranchus forskalii  Rüppell & Leuckart, 1828

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 140819).
Synonyms

  • Oscanius semperi Vayssière, 1897
  • Pleurobranchus forskali  [sic] (Ruppell & Leuckart, 1828)
  • Pleurobranchus perrieri  Vayssière, 1897

Description

Biology

Etymology

  • Forskalii. Dedicated to Dr. Petter Forsskål (1732-1763), Finnish-Swedish disciple of Linnaeus; participated in a Danish collecting expedition to Egypt and Arabia Felix (Yemen) in 1761-67, where he died of malaria. He was highly esteemed by Linnaeus.

Distribution
This is a lessepsian species that is invading the Eastern Mediterranean. This species has not yet reached the Western Mediterranean coasts, but there are frequent sighting reports from Israel.

Known georeferenced records of the species: Pleurobranchus forskalii
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 Pleurobranchus forskalii based on our own records.

More pictures

Pleurobranchus forskali

Bibliography

    Ballesteros M, Madrenas E, Pontes M. 2025. OPK - Opistobranquis. Available from https://opistobranquis.info/.
    Bielecki S, Cavignaux G, Crouzet JM, et al. 2011. Des limaces de rêve.
    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.
    Goodheart J, Camacho García Y, Padula V, et al. 2015. Systematics and biogeography of Pleurobranchus Cuvier, 1804, sea slugs (Heterobranchia: Nudipleura: Pleurobranchidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 174: 322-362. Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12237.
    ICZN. 1993. Opinion 1767. Pleurobranchus forskalii Ruppell & Leuckart, [1828] and P. testudinarius Cantraine, 1835 (Mollusca, Gastropoda): specific names conserved. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 51(2): 164-165.
    Imamoto J. 2001 2014. Pleurobranchus forskalii accessed through: Umiushi.info on 2014-12-14. Available from http://www.umiushi.info/kanri/photo_sql_eng.php?act=PSP&gakumei1=Pleurobranchus&gakumei2=forskalii&location_code=0000#.
    Long SJ. 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. Available from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8115h0wz.
    Rudman WB. 1993. Case 2838. Pleurobranchus forskalii Ruppell & Leuckart, 1828 and p testudinarius Cantraine, 1835 (Mollusca, Gastropoda): proposed conservation of the specific names. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 50(1): 16-19.
    Rudman W.B. et al. 1998 2010. Pleurobranchus forskalii accessed through: Sea Slug Forum on 2014-12-14. Available from http://seaslugforum.net/showall/pleufors.
    Rüppell E, Leuckart FS. 1828. Mollusca [in] Atlas zu des Reise im Nordlichen Afrika von Eduard Rüppell. 1. Abth. Zoologie. 5. Neue wirbellose Thiere des Rothen Meers. Frankfurt, H.L. Brönner pp. 1-22, pl. 1-12 [1828], pp. 23-47 [probably 1830]. Available from http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/114235#page/349/mode/1up.
    Streftaris N, Zenetos A, Papathanassiou E. 2005. Globalisation in marine ecosystems: the story of non-indigenous marine species across European seas. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev. 43: 419-453.
    Trainito E, Doneddu M. 2014. Nudibranchi del Mediterraneo. 2nd. Il Castello. 192 p.
    Trainito E, Trainito S. 2003. Mediterranean harlequins : a field guide to Mediterranean sea slugs. Olbia (SS), Italia: Taphros.
    Vine P. 1986. Red Sea invertebrates. London: Immel.
    WoRMS Editorial Board. 2025. World Register of Marine Species. WoRMS. Available from http://www.marinespecies.org.
    Yonow N. 2008. Sea slugs of the Red Sea. 304 pp. Sofia-Moscow: Pensoft.
    Zenetos A, Gofas S, Russo G, et al. 2004. Pleurobranchus forskalii accessed through: CIESM Atlas of Exotic Species in the Mediterranean on 2015-05-23. Available from http://www.ciesm.org/atlas/Pleurobranchusforskalii.html.
    Zenetos A, Gofas S, Morri C, et al. 2012. Alien species in the Mediterranean Sea by 2012. A contribution to the application of European Union’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Part 2. Introduction trends and pathways. Mediterranean Marine Science, 13, 328-352.

    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. (2012-2025) "Pleurobranchus forskalii" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 15/05/2012. Accessed: 03/02/2025. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=388)