Okenia zoobotryon? from Senegal

March 8, 2004
From: Marina Poddubetskaia

Dear Bill,
Here is a mystery from Dakar. I have no idea what species it is. The general shape makes me think a little about Aegires. I found several animals on a bryozoan (see the joined photo). According to Patrice Petit de Voize it could be Bowerbankia sp. Animals were photographed in the tank on this bryozoan.

Date: May 29, 2003
Location: Dakar, Senegal, Eastern Atlantic
Site: Ile de Goree
Depth: 8m
Size: 7-8mm
Photos: Marina Poddubetskaia - Nembro website

Thank you in advance for your help.
Best wishes,
Marina.

nembro@nembro.info

Dear Marina,
Here is a message from west Africa you sent some time ago. I first thought I woud post it as a change from your interesting Caribbean material, but I suspect it is a direct link to that fauna as well. At first I tried to find a European species of Okenia that matches, and then I realised it is almost certainly the Caribbean Okenia zoobotryon.

It fits Smallwood's original description well and also Clark's (1984) discussion. It hs the distinctive cup-shaped lamellae on the posrterior side of the rhinophores, and I am pretty sure the bryozoan you found your animal on is Zoobotryon verticillatum, which is the known food of this species.

Valdes & Ortea (1995) describe the mantle papillae as having a rounded terminal bulb, as can be seen in Kerry Clark's small photo on the Fact Sheet. Your photo does not show this. I don't know id that is significant or whether the papillae change shape as in many aeolids. If anyone can give me feedback on this species it would be very welcome. If this is Okenia zoobotryon, it is the first record I know of from the east Atlantic.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Mar 8). Comment on Okenia zoobotryon? from Senegal by Marina Poddubetskaia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10265

Factsheet

Okenia zoobotryon

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