Home Guide to Opisthobranchs Sacoglossa Plakobranchoidea Elysia rubeni

Elysia rubeni

Elysia rubeni Martín-Hervas, Carmona, Jensen, Licchelli, Vitale & Cervera, 2019

Elysia rubeni @ La Caleta, El Hierro by Juan Ramón Marcelino

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 rubeni  Martín-Hervás, Carmona, K. R. Jensen, Licchelli, Vitale & Cervera, 2020

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 1397304).
Description
Smooth and elongated body, base color is green pigmented with iridiscent yellow dots and with bright blue spots randomly scattered along it. The green colouration is due to the kleptoplasts in the cells lining the digestive gland, visible through the slightly translucent green skin. Two blue spots are located right below the eyes. Rhinophores are long, rolled, coloured whitish grey with purple tips. Pericardiac area almost fully covered by the large parapodia, whose edges are laterally undulated. The body is tapered at the end forming a short, triangular tail. The foot sole is not apparent.

Biology
Found in shallow depths in the infralittoral, on the algae Flabellia petiolata, that is probably its food source. Very active, it can be seen crawling on red algae like Peyssonnelia or even on the red algae Sphaerococcus coronopifolius.

Etymology

  • Rubeni. Named after Rubén Martín Cubero, fiancé of the leading author of the original paper.

Distribution
Described from specimens found in the western and eastern coasts of the Puglia region (Italy), but there are also reports from Croatia, Malta, Crete and even from the Canary Islands.

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

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More pictures

Bibliography

    Furfaro, G., F. Vitale, C. Licchelli, and P. Mariottini. 2020. Two Seas for One Great Diversity: Checklist of the Marine Heterobranchia (Mollusca; Gastropoda) from the Salento Peninsula (South-East Italy). Diversity. 12: 171.
    Martín-Hervás, M. R., L. Carmona, K. R. Jensen, C. Licchelli, F. Vitale, and J. L. Cervera. 2020. Description of a new pseudocryptic species of Elysia Risso, 1818 (Heterobranchia, Sacoglossa) in the Mediterranean Sea. Bull Mar Sci. 96(1):127–143.

    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 (2023) "Elysia rubeni" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 12/02/2020. Accessed: 30/03/2023. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/jugN1)

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