Elysia obtusa
Baba, 1938

Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: ELYSIOIDEA
Family: Elysiidae

DISTRIBUTION

Widespread western Pacific distribution from Japan & Hong Kong to eastern Australia.

PHOTO

UPPER: Tsim Chau, Hong Kong. 10m depth, length 1.5 cm. Photo: Leslie Chan.
LOWER: Echizen Beach, Fukui prefecture, West coast of Japan. 18th July, 2001. Depth: 5m Size: 10mm. Photo: Nishina Chikako.

Animal transucent yellow with white spots scattered over the body, head and parapodia. Edge of parapodia lined with bright white line. In sonme animals the green of the digestive gland causes the parapodia to be dark green in colour bbut from the range of photos in the Forum it appears that the green colouration is probably a temporary colouration dependent on how recently an animal has been feeding. Dark green parapodia probably corresponds to a recently fed animal while predominantly yellow animals have probably not fed for some time. Some authors have identifies this northwestern pacific species with the Carribbean E. flava, but until the antomy of the two are compared I would think such a synonymy is premature.

Eveline Marcus (1980) describes Elysia flava Verrill, 1901 are reported to be light yellow with white specks and faint dull brown markings on the head and neck. The parapodia are light green with a white edging and dendritic white branches extending in from the edge. The inner surface is almost black.

Reference:
• Baba, K (1938) Opisthobranchia of Kii, Middle Japan. J. Dept. Agric. Kyusyu Imp. Univ., 6(1): 1-19.
• Baba, K. (1949) Opisthobranchia of Sagami Bay collected by His Majesty The Emperor of Japan. Iwanami Shoyen, Tokyo. 194pp., 50 Pls.
• Carlson, C.H. & Hoff, P.J. (1978) The identifiable Elysia from Guam (Elysiidae, Sacoglossa, Opisthobranchia). Micronesica, 14: 89-113.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2001 (July 24) Elysia obtusa Baba, 1938. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/elysobtu

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