Elysia gordanae

Elysia gordanae (Thompson & Jaklin, 1988)

Elysia gordanae@L´Escala, Girona by Enric Madrenas

Taxonomy
 

Superdomain

Biota  

 

Kingdom

Animalia  

 

Phylum

Mollusca  

 

Class

Gastropoda  

 

Subclass

Heterobranchia  

 

Infraclass

Euthyneura  

 

Subterclass

Tectipleura  

 

Superorder

Sacoglossa  

 

Superfamily

Plakobranchoidea  

 

Family

Plakobranchidae  

 

Genus

Elysia  

 

Species

Elysia gordanae  T. E. Thompson & Jaklin, 1988

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 139680).
Taxonomic note: Ortea et al. (2017) proposed the synonymy between E. gordanae and E. margaritae, actually accepted by WoRMS, but it is questionable because of a huge difference in size of these species: E. margaritae was described on the basis of few specimens 33-44 mm long, while E. gordanae is much smaller and usually its size is less than 10 mm. On the other hand, there is another taxon, Elysia hetta Perrone, 1990, that is closely related to E. gordanae and is also currently accepted as valid by WoRMS. It is very probable that E. hetta‘s description was based on juveniles of E. gordanae, so it could be a junior synonym of that species. (text based on Jakov Prkić, pers.comm.). We keep E. gordanae as valid until further works are published on the subject.

Description
Specimens of this species can grow up to 30 mm in length. The general color is greenish but it is not homogeneous, and there are usually numerous white and pink scores and granulations that lightens the hue of the body. On both sides of the head there are very faintly pigmented iridescent blue areas. The rhinophores are narrow, are rolled and are relatively short; their color is greenish and they are sprayed with white spots. The eyes are very visible right behind the rhinophores base. The parapodia are underdeveloped and use to open in angle in its anterior third. The edge of the parapodia is thickened and edged with a darker green with small whitish bumps. The dorsal vessels are very inconspicuous.

Biology
This species usually lives among green algae from the intertidal zone to down to 30 m depth. This species has been found on algae and Bryopsis and Derbesia noted that feeds the algae Cladophora chlorophycean and is able to retain their chloroplasts in his body, with a high turnover rate (Marín & Ros, 1988). The setting is a thick whitish cord wound in a spiral ondulosa (Gofas, Moreno & Salas, 2011).

Etymology

  • Elysia. It is a girl’s name of Latin origin, derived from the word Elysium, which in mythology is the home of the blessed, known as the “Elysian fields”. The name Elysia also means “God’s oath” in Hebrew. Frieder Sauer comments that Elysia means heavenly.
  • Gordanae. In honour of Gordana Jaklin (19??-) likely related to one of the authors.

Distribution
In addition to the type locality on the coast of Slovenia, the species has been cited only in the Iberian Peninsula (Andalusian coast, Levantine and Catalan), Canary Islands, Azores (Cervera et al. 2004) and Balearic Islands (Menorca). In Catalonia, it has been observed in Es Caials, L’Escala and the Medes Islands.

Known georeferenced records of the species: Elysia gordanae
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 Elysia gordanae based on our own records.

Videos

 

More pictures

Bibliography

    Ballesteros M. 2007. Lista actualizada de los opistobranquios (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) de las costas catalanas. Spira. 2(3):163–188.
    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/.
    Bielecki S, Cavignaux G, Crouzet JM, et al. 2011. Des limaces de rêve.
    Cervera JL, López-González PJ. 1996. New records of two uncommon sacoglossans (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) from the coasts of the Iberian peninsula. Veliger. 39(1):93–95. Available from ://WOS:A1996TN93800012.
    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.
    Furfaro G, Vitale F, Licchelli C, et al. 2020. Two Seas for One Great Diversity: Checklist of the Marine Heterobranchia (Mollusca; Gastropoda) from the Salento Peninsula (South-East Italy). Diversity. 12(12):171.
    García Raso JE, Luque AA, Templado J, et al. 1992. Fauna y Flora marinas del Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata-Nijar. 1a 9/1992. Madrid: Luque del Villar, Ángel Antonio. 288 p.
    Long SJ. 2006. Bibliography of Opisthobranchia 1554-2000. Bayside Books & Press, Tustin, CA, U.S.A. 672p.
    Malaquias M, Calado G, Padula V, et al. 2009. Molluscan diversity in the North Atlantic Ocean: new records of opisthobranch gastropods from the Archipelago of the Azores. Marine Biodiversity. 2:e38.
    Martín-Hervás MR, Carmona L, Jensen KR, et al. 2020. Description of a new pseudocryptic species of Elysia Risso, 1818 (Heterobranchia, Sacoglossa) in the Mediterranean Sea. Bull Mar Sci. 96(1):127–143. https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2018.0087.
    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.
    Ortea J, Moro L, Espinosa J. 1997. Nuevos datos sobre el género Elysia Risso, 1818 (Opisthobranchia: Sacoglossa) en el atlántico. Revista de la Academia Canaria de Ciencias 9 (2, 3 and 4): 141-155.
    Ortea J, Moro L, Bacallado JJ. 2017. Nota sobre dos especies del género Elysia Risso, 1818 (Mollusca: Sacoglossa) en las islas de Cabo Verde. Rev.Acad. Canar. Cienc. 29:21–30.
    Poursanidis D, Koutsoubas D. 2015. On the occurrence of Elysia gordanae Thompson & Jaklin, 1988 (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia) in East Mediterranean Sea. Marine Biodiversity.:1–2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-015-0318-8.
    Prkić J, Petani A, Iglić Ð, et al. 2018. Stražnjoškržnjaci Jadranskoga Mora: Slikovni Atlas i Popis Hrvatskih Vrsta / Opisthobranchs of the Adriatic Sea: Photographic Atlas and List of Croatian Species. Bibinje: Ronilaćki Klub Sveti Roko. 464 p. Available from https://opistobranquis.info/en/recursos/llibres-recomanats/opisthobranchs-of-the-adriatic-sea/.
    Rudman W.B. et al. 1998 2010. Elysia gordanae accessed through: Sea Slug Forum on 2014-12-14. Available from http://seaslugforum.net/showall/elysgord.
    Templado J, Villanueva R. 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.
    Thompson TE, Jaklin A. 1988. Eastern Mediterranean Opisthobranchia: Elysiidae (Sacoglossa = Ascoglossa). Journal of Molluscan Studies. 54:59–69. https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/54.1.59.
    Trainito E, Doneddu M. 2014. Nudibranchi del Mediterraneo. 2nd. Il Castello. 192 p.
    Wirtz P, Debelius H. 2003. Mediterranean and Atlantic invertebrate guide. Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks.
    WoRMS Editorial Board. 2023. World Register of Marine Species. WoRMS. Available from 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) "Elysia gordanae" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 14/05/2012. Accessed: 19/03/2024. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=256)

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