Home Guide to Opisthobranchs Sacoglossa Plakobranchoidea Hermaea paucicirra

Hermaea paucicirra

Hermaea paucicirra  Pruvot-Fol, 1953

Hermaea paucicirra by Luis Ángel Díaz Álvarez

Taxonomy
 

Superdomain

Biota  

 

Kingdom

Animalia  

 

Phylum

Mollusca  

 

Class

Gastropoda  

 

Subclass

Heterobranchia  

 

Infraclass

Euthyneura  

 

Subterclass

Tectipleura  

 

Superorder

Sacoglossa  

 

Superfamily

Plakobranchoidea  

 

Family

Hermaeidae  

 

Genus

Hermaea  

 

Species

Hermaea paucicirra  Pruvot-Fol, 1953

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 140094).
Description
This is a small sized sacoglosan since specimens usually are 3-4 mm long with a maximum size of 6 mm. The body is semi-transparent white, highlighting the existence of pink-violet lines that run along the back and side walls of the body. The dorsal lines penetrate the inside of the rhinophores and cross the whole back towards the tail, at times are discontinuous lines. Lateral lines pass under the cerata base and penetrate the anterior cephalic region where they widen somewhat. At the base of the first cerata there is a connection between dorsal and lateral lines on each side. At the base of the cerata on each side there are also lines of the same color that run towards the tail and join at the tip. The head is very short but instead the rhinophores are very developed in relation to the size of the animal. The rhinophores are auriculate and narrow at the base, but then they widen progressively and finally narrow in the apex, they are semitransparent except the inside face, colored purplish due to the extension of the back lines, and may also have whitish granulations. The eyes are very visible in the rear of the base of the rhinophores. The cerata are very few in numbers (the specific name of the species means this), only 8-10 on each side of the body, they are of different sizes and globose, semitransparent and the digestive gland inside is brownish or dark green, while white granulations may be also in the surface epithelium of the larger cerata. The anus is at the end of a small conical papilla before the cardiac area, located at neat the front cerata. Genitalia are located between the eye and the first cerata on the right side.

Biology
Very little known about the biology of this species. It has been cited living or feeding on green algae as Codium fragile or rhodophycean as Halurus equisetifolius and other filamentous red algae, on which it is completely unnoticed. It has also been collected, in the Mediterranean, on rhizomes of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica and on shallow stones covered with photophilic seaweed.

Etymology

  • Hermaea. Derived from Hermes, character of the Greek Mythology.
  • Paucicirra. Derived from the combination of the Latin words pauci, meaning ‘few’, and cirrata, meaning ‘fringed’, and refers to the few dorsal cerata.

Distribution
Hermaea paucicirra was described in 1953 by Pruvot-Fol without seeing the animal and based only on a watercolor painted by Gantes. Native to the Atlantic coast of Morocco, it has subsequently been cited in the Bassin d’Arcachon (French Atlantic coast), in all coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula, both Atlantic and Mediterranean, and the Canary Islands. In Catalonia it has been cited in Cala Sant Francesc, Blanes and Sa Tuna (Begur).

Known georeferenced records of the species: Hermaea paucicirra
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 Hermaea paucicirra based on our own records.

Videos

 

More pictures

Hermaea paucicirra @ Newlyn, Cornwall, UK 20181015 by David Fenwick
Hermaea paucicirra @ Newlyn, Cornwall, UK 20150829 by David Fenwick

Bibliography

    Ballesteros, M. 1980. La presencia en las costas catalanas de Hermaea paucicirra y Hermaea cremoniana (Opisthobranchia: Sacoglossa). Publ. Dpto. Zool. Barcelona, 5: 19-23.
    Ballesteros, M. 1980. Nueva aportacion al conocimiento de los Sacoglosos y Nudibranquios de las costas Mediterraneas espanolas. II Congreso Nacional de Malacologia, Sociedad Espana de Malacologia, Barcelona, 1 pg.
    Ballesteros, M. 1980. Contribución al conocimientos de los Sacoglosos y Nudibranquios (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia). Estudio anatómico, sistemático y faunístico de las especies del mediterráneo español. Tesis Doctoral.
    Ballesteros, M. 2007. Lista actualizada de los opistobranquios (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) de las costas catalanas. Spira. 2: 163–188.
    Ballesteros, M., E. Madrenas, and M. Pontes. 2016. Actualización del catálogo de los moluscos opistobranquios (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) de las costas catalanas. Spira. 6: 1–28.
    Ballesteros, M., E. Madrenas, and M. Pontes. 2023. OPK - Opistobranquis. (https://opistobranquis.info/).
    Calado, G., V. Urgorri, R. Gaspar, and F. J. Cristobo. 1999. Catálogo de los moluscos opistobranquios bentónicos de las costas de Setúbal-Espichel (Portugal). Nova Acta Científica Compostelana (Bioloxía) 9: 285-294.
    Cervera, J. L., and J. C. García-Gómez. 1986. Moluscos opistobranquios del litoral occidental andaluz: nuevas aportaciones faunísticas. Iberus 6 (2): 201-207.
    Cervera, J. L., J. C. García, and J. A. Ortea. 1988. A New Species Of The Genus Hermaea Gastropoda Opisthobranchia Sacoglossa And Redescription Of Two Rare Sacoglossans Of The European Malacofauna. Iberus 8 (2). 1988. 215-224.
    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.
    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.
    Long, S. J. 2006. Bibliography of Opisthobranchia 1554-2000. Bayside Books & Press, Tustin, CA, U.S.A. 672p.
    Marín, A., and J. Ros. 1987. Catálogo preliminar de los gasterópodos marinos del sudeste español. Iberus 7 (1): 137-145.
    Marín, A., and J. Ros. 1988. Los Sacoglossos (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia) del sudeste Ibérico; Catálogo de las especies y presencia de cloroplastos algales en las mismas. Iberus. 8: 25–49.
    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).
    Menéndez, J. L., and J. Oliveros. 2004. Hermaea paucicirra accessed through: AsturNatura on 2015-02-05. (http://www.asturnatura.com/especie/hermaea-paucicirra.html).
    Moro, L., O. Ocaña, J. J. Bacallado, J. Martín, and J. Ortea. 2017. Nota sobre tres babosas marinas (Nudibranchia y Sacoglossa) colectadas en las costas atlánticas de África (Cabo Espartel, Agadir y Dakhla), con un listado de especies acompañantes. Vieraea 45: 205-214.
    Ortea, J. 1977b. Contribución a la actualización de la fauna de Opistobranquios ibéricos; Sacoglosos. Boletín de la estación Central de Ecología 6 (11): 75-91.
    Ortea, J. 1977a. Moluscos marinos gasterópodos y bivalvos del litoral asturiano entre Ribadesella y Ribadeo, con especial atención a la subclase de los opistobranquios. Tesis Doctoral.
    Ortea, J., M. C. L. Moro, and J. J. Bacallado. 2003. Resultados Científicos del proyecto “Macaronesia 2000” Chinijo-2002: Moluscos Opistobranquios. Revista de la Academia Canaria de Ciencias 14 (3-4): 165-180.
    Pruvot-Fol, A. 1953. Etude de quelques Opisthobranches de la côte Atlantique du Maroc et du Senegal. Travaux de l’Institut Scientifique Chérifien 5: 1-105.
    Rudman W.B. et al. 1998. Hermaea paucicirra accessed through: Sea Slug Forum on 2014-12-14. (http://seaslugforum.net/showall/hermpauc).
    Salvat, F. 1968. Hermaea paucicirra Pruvot-Fol, 1953 Mollusque Gastropode Sacoglossa. Bull Mus Nat Hist Natur Paris 40(2):358-365.
    Sánchez Tocino, L. 2001. Hermaea paucicirra accessed through: Opistobranquios de la Costa de Granada on 2014-12-14. (http://www.ugr.es/~lstocino/hermaea_pucicirra.htm).
    Sánchez Tocino, L., A. Ocaña, and F. J. García. 2000. Contribución al conocimiento de los moluscos opistobranquios de la costa de Granada (sureste de la Península Ibérica). Iberus 18(1):1-14.
    Sánchez-Tocino, L. 2018. El Litoral de Granada - Opistobranquios. El Litoral de Granada. (https://litoraldegranada.ugr.es/el-litoral/el-litoral-sumergido/fauna/moluscos/gasteropodos/opistobranquios/).
    Templado, J., and R. Villanueva. 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.
    Trainito, E., and M. Doneddu. 2014. Nudibranchi del Mediterraneo, 2nd. ed. Il Castello.
    Urgorri, V., and C. Besteiro. 1983. Inventario de los moluscos Opistobranquios de Galicia. Investigación Pesquera 47 (1): 3-28.
    WoRMS Editorial Board. 2023. World Register of Marine Species. WoRMS. (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) "Hermaea paucicirra" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 24/10/2012. Accessed: 22/09/2023. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=2437)

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