{"id":20958,"date":"2015-12-23T19:51:44","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T18:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opistobranquis.info\/?page_id=20958"},"modified":"2020-05-10T16:39:25","modified_gmt":"2020-05-10T14:39:25","slug":"hermaea-cantabra","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/opistobranquis.info\/en\/guia\/sacoglossa\/plakobranchoidea\/hermaea-cantabra\/","title":{"rendered":"Hermaea cantabra"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hermaea cantabra<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0Caballer & Ortea, 2015<\/h3>\n

\"Hermaea<\/div>
Hermaea cantabra @ Isla de la Torre, Santander, Cantabria, Spain 22-01-2004<\/em> by Manuel Caballer<\/center><\/span>

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WoRMS Taxonomic Information<\/h3>
Current accepted name: Hermaea cantabra<\/em> Caballer & Ortea, 2015<\/strong><\/div>

Current classification<\/h4>
Superdomain<\/th>Biota<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Kingdom<\/th>Animalia<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Phylum<\/th>Mollusca<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Class<\/th>Gastropoda<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Subclass<\/th>Heterobranchia<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Infraclass<\/th>Euthyneura<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Subterclass<\/th>Tectipleura<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Superorder<\/th>Sacoglossa<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Superfamily<\/th>Plakobranchoidea<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Family<\/th>Hermaeidae<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Genus<\/th>Hermaea<\/em><\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Species<\/th>Hermaea cantabra<\/em> Caballer & Ortea, 2015<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table>

Classification provided by the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). [865550<\/a>]<\/p><\/div>Taxonomic note:<\/strong> Prior to the description of H. cantabra<\/em>, any Hermaeidae with reddish pigmentation in the digestive tract and auriculated rhinophores, captured in European waters, was automatically determined as Hermaea bifida<\/em> (Montagu, 1815). However, a more detailed study of specimens captured in northern Spain (Caballer, 2007) showed that these animals had characters that could not be attributed to H. bifida\u00a0<\/em>in any way, such as having\u00a0a typical and complex pattern of red bands in the epidermis, digestive ramifications in the cerata not bifurcated at the distal end and radular teeth shaped like an stylet, without lateral expansions.<\/p>\n

Description
\n<\/strong>The different specimens found measure between 4 and 5 mm in length, with a maximum size of 9 mm so far. The body is narrow and elongated. The body is hyaline white, translucent, the reddish brown or light brown digestive gland visible\u00a0through the tegument. The auriculate rhinophores have a more or less rounded upper lobe, larger than the lower lobe, they are of the same color as the body and have whitish granules in their distal area and at the base. There is a fine reddish brown line in the posterior area of \u200b\u200bthe rhinophores that begins in the distal third of them, runs through its base and goes backwards, passing between the eyes, where it disappears. The eyes are located slightly\u00a0behind the base of the rhinophores. On the back, the cardiac area has a white triangular area, formed by the accumulation of granules of this color, with reddish brown surface spots at the edges, that are also scattered throughout the dorsum down to the tail. Laterally there is a thin reddish brown band that runs from the head\u00a0to the middle of the body, with a branch that runs through the rhinophore; this band\u00a0sometimes joins the area of \u200b\u200bthe head with a thin line that runs along the entire edge of the foot. All the back and sides of the body, also the tail, are covered with red or brown spots of different shapes and sizes. On the back the digestive gland forms two parallel longitudinal reddish brown cords\u00a0with an irregular path, exceptionally joined\u00a0in the tail but never in the front\u00a0end. From these longitudinal cords grow the branches that enter each of the cerata; within these, the digestive branch has a central axis from which simple expansions\u00a0grow in\u00a0right or oblique angles. There are 8-9 cerata on each side of the body, translucent and of very different\u00a0sizes, usually with\u00a0scattered whitish granules. The more developed cerata are wider in their distal third and narrow at the base, there are also ovoid shaped cerata; there are undefined shape tubercles on the surface of the cerata. The anus is in dorsal position and located right ahead\u00a0of the cardiac area. The genital orifice is lateral and placed between the base of\u00a0the rhinophore and the first right cerata. The foot is slightly bilobed.<\/p>\n

Biology
\n<\/strong>So far, this species has only been captured from the intertidal to 15 m depth, living on red algae epibiont of Codium tomentosum<\/em> or on algae of the genus Ceramium<\/em> (Caballer & Ortea, 2015). This species is generally captured together with its sibling Hermaea paucicirra<\/em>. The spawn of this species has been described and drawn by Ortea (1977a, as H. bifida<\/em>) as a white spiral of 2.5 mm in diameter and one and a half turns, containing about 500 eggs.\u00a0It can easily be confused with Hermaea bifida<\/em>, but they are distinguished by the longitudinal stripes in the head and along the rhinophores, present in Hermaea cantabra<\/em>\u00a0and absent Hermaea bifida<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Etymology<\/strong><\/p>\n