Halgerda cf. toliara from Mayotte

January 7, 2004
From: Marina Poddubetskaia


Dear Bill,
In April I have sent you strange Halgerda photos from Mayotte, taken by Isabelle Ruffin [see message]. Last November, during my collecting mission there I saw 2 other specimens of this species.
The median yellow line and a raised yellow gill pocket seem to be constant characteristics of this variant. But also there can be some secondary yellow lines, like in the second specimen here.

There is a book dealing with marine fauna from Mayotte: Images & Magie du Grand Lagon, Frederique et Jean-Michel Maggiorani, 1991". In this book there is a photo of this Halgerda species with broken median line and some secondary yellow lines too.

I think that compared to usual Halgerda toliara (see my previous message), this variant seems to be a distinct species. What do you think about it ?

Upper Photo:
Date: November 06, 2003. Location: Mayotte Island, Indian Ocean. Site: Passe en S, buoy n° 2. Depth: 11.5m' Size: 15-17mm

Middle & Lower Photo:
Date: November 15, 2003. Location: Mayotte Island, Indian Ocean. Site: Passe en S, buoys n° 6&7. Depth: 6m. Size: 18mm

Cheers,
Marina.

nembro@nembro.info

Poddubetskaia, M., 2004 (Jan 7) Halgerda cf. toliara from Mayotte. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11745

Dear Marina,
We still have a lot to learn about colour variations in these species as my messages today on colour variation in H. formosa and H. wasinensis, illustrate.

While these two animals in this message lack the reticulate pattern of the animals in your other message, the lower animal has traces of a reticulate pattern. As it is almost certainly related to the animal in the upper photo, they show a link between non-reticulate and reticulate specimens. At this stage I would suspect the animals in your two messages are the same species, but we need more material before we can say much more. Shireen Fahey may be able to give us more information on variability in H. toliara

Best wishes
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Jan 7). Comment on Halgerda cf. toliara from Mayotte by Marina Poddubetskaia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11745

Factsheet

Halgerda toliara

Related messages

  1. Re: Halgerda toliara? from Nosy Be Madagascar
    From: Greg Regnier, January 21, 2009
  2. Halgerda toliara? from Nosy Be Madagascar
    From: Ugo Gaggeri, December 15, 2006
  3. Halgerda toliara? from Sth Africa
    From: Colin Ogden, February 17, 2006
  4. Halgerda toliara from Sth Africa
    From: Colin Ogden, May 19, 2005
  5. Halgerda toliara from Mayotte
    From: Marina Poddubetskaia, January 7, 2004
  6. Halgerda toliara? from Mayotte (1)
    From: Marina Poddubetskaia, April 15, 2003
  7. Halgerda toliara? from Mayotte (2)
    From: Marina Poddubetskaia, April 15, 2003
  8. Halgerda toliara from South Africa
    From: Sean Sequeira, June 24, 2002
  9. Halgerda toliara? from South Africa
    From: Valda Fraser, June 30, 2000
  10. A good photo of Halgerda toliara
    From: Valda Fraser, May 11, 2000
  11. Halgerda toliara from South Africa
    From: Valda Fraser, November 17, 1999

Show factsheet and all related messages