{"id":396,"date":"2012-05-15T20:58:01","date_gmt":"2012-05-15T18:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opistobranquis.info\/berthella-stellataberthella-stellataberthella-stellata"},"modified":"2025-03-16T12:09:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T11:09:49","slug":"pleurehdera-stellata","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/opistobranquis.info\/en\/guia\/pleurobranchida\/pleurehdera-stellata\/","title":{"rendered":"Pleurehdera stellata"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Pleurehdera stellata<\/em> (Risso, 1826)<\/h3>\n

\"Pleurehdera\u00a0stellata<\/div>
Pleurehdera\u00a0stellata<\/em> by Enric Madrenas<\/center><\/span>

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WoRMS Taxonomic Information<\/h3>
Current accepted name: Pleurehdera stellata<\/em> (Risso, 1826)<\/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>Ringipleura<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Superorder<\/th>Nudipleura<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Order<\/th>Pleurobranchida<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Superfamily<\/th>Pleurobranchoidea<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Family<\/th>Pleurobranchidae<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Genus<\/th>Pleurehdera<\/em><\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Species<\/th>Pleurehdera stellata<\/em> (Risso, 1826)<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table>

Classification provided by the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). [1736474<\/a>]<\/p><\/div>Taxonomic Note<\/strong>: The systematics of Pleurobranchida (side-gilled sea slugs) have long been hindered by persistent incongruences between morphological and molecular data. Traditionally, morphological assessments divided the single superfamily Pleurobranchoidea into two families: the shell-less Pleurobranchaeidae and the internally shelled Pleurobranchidae. Ghanimi et al. (2020) demonstrated that both morphological and molecular evidence support the view that the widely distributed species Berthella stellata<\/em> (Risso, 1826) is, in fact, a species complex comprising no less than eight distinct species. Furthermore, they found that the B. stellata<\/em> complex forms a monophyletic group with the Eastern Pacific species Berthella strongi<\/em> (MacFarland, 1966). A critical review of the literature led to the retention of Berthella stellata<\/em> for the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean species, while the name Berthella pellucida<\/em> (Pease, 1860) was resurrected for the species found in the Hawaiian Islands. However, molecular evidence has so far yielded conflicting hypotheses. To address this, Moles et al. (2023) conducted a multilocus phylogenetic analysis that included type species from all known genera within this group. By employing various masking algorithms to enhance phylogenetic resolution, their results supported the recognition of a new superfamily, Tomthompsonioidea, characterized by the absence of an acidic oral gland and the presence of a helicoid shell. This superfamily was found to be the sister group to all other Pleurobranchida. Their study also demonstrated that the genus Berthella<\/em> is paraphyletic, now comprising four clades: Berthella<\/em> sensu stricto, Boreoberthella<\/em>, Pleurehdera<\/em>, and Tomoberthella<\/em>. Their findings revealed a distinct Berthella<\/em> clade largely corresponding to the B. stellata<\/em> complex as described by Ghanimi et al. (2020), while also adding further complexity. The B. stellata<\/em> group was identified in tropical and temperate waters of the Eastern Pacific, Caribbean, and Mediterranean, including species such as B. andromeda<\/em> Ghanimi et al., 2020, B. strongi<\/em> (MacFarland, 1966), B. nebula<\/em> Ghanimi et al., 2020, and B. vialactea<\/em> Ghanimi et al., 2020. This B. stellata<\/em> group was found to be sister to a Pacific clade comprising B. pellucida<\/em> (Pease, 1860) from Hawaii, B.<\/em> cf. postrema<\/em> from New Caledonia, a newly sequenced B<\/em>. cf. \u2018stellata<\/em>\u2019 from Japan, and Pleurehdera haraldi<\/em> Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1970 from Palmyra Atoll in the central Pacific. Since Pleurehdera haraldi<\/em> was the type and only species of its genus, and it nests within this Berthella<\/em> clade, Moles et al. (2023) proposed transferring all the aforementioned species to Pleurehdera<\/em>. Members of Pleurehdera<\/em> share a reticulate mantle with a pale, gelatinous appearance, a small internal shell, a vestigial or absent median buccal gland, and paw-shaped jaw platelets bearing regularly sized, relatively large denticles on both sides of the platelets\u2019 shaft (Marcus & Marcus, 1970), and are found in temperate latitudes, ranging from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

Synonyms<\/strong><\/p>\n