Phyllaplysia lafonti
(Fischer, 1870)

Order: ANASPIDEA
Superfamily: APLYSIOIDEA
Family: Aplysiidae

DISTRIBUTION

Mediterranean, Atlantic coast of Europe, Indo-West Pacific.

PHOTO

Upper: Fischer's original drawing [1872 - Plate 15, figs 1-3]
Lower: Kerama Islands, Okinawa, Japan. Size approx: 17mm., Depth: 2m., 7 Jul 2002. Photo: Jun Imamoto

The identity of many of the small sea hares of the genera Phyllaplysia and Petalifera, which have been described around the world, is very confused and as many species are based on descriptions of preserved animals, or simply described as 'green', we will probably never be able to resolve all the older names. The situation is also confused by many authors considering that species of  Phyllaplysia lacked a shell while those of Petalifera possessed one.

Phyllaplysia lafonti was originally described from the Baie d'Arcachon on the Atlantic coast of France. Like all species of Phyllaplysia and Petalifera it is described as small, flattened, and with very reduced parapodia. The colour is described as very variable, but one distinctive feature of the written description and the accompanying drawing are the way the body coloration consists of concentric bands ['zones concentriques'] of lighter and darker pigmentation. Also described are whitish spots ringed with purple. Fischer was unable to determine whether there was a shell, but a relatively large fragile internal shell is illustrated by Terreni (1997)

It is hard to be sure which of the earlier references to this species in the Mediterranean are actually correct, but there is a good colour photo which matches the original drawing of Phyllaplysia lafonti in an article by Terreni (1997) in La Conchiglia. In this article he compares it with Petalifera petalifera. Photos of animals from the Indo-West Pacific, indistinguishable from Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic animals, suggest this species has a circum-global distribution.

See message #13719  comparing  Phyllaplysia lafonti and Petalifera petalifera

• Fischer, P (1870) Observations sur les Aplysies. Ann. de Sci. Nat (5). Zool & Pal, 13: 3
• Fischer, P (1872) Description d'une espece nouvelle du genre Phyllaplysia. Journal de Conchyliologie, 20: 295-301.
• Terreni, G. (1997) Rinvenimento di un esemplare di Phyllaplysia lafonti (P. Fischer, 1870) nelle acque litorali di Livorno (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia, Aplysiomorpha). La Conchiglia, Roma, 29 (282): 45-47.

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