Chelidonura africana, C. hummelincki & C. berolina

March 15, 2004
From: Colin Redfern

Dear Bill,
To contribute to the discussion of Chelidonura africana, [#11810], the attached photo is an example of the species that I referred to in Bahamian Seashells as Aglaja hummelincki. Also attached are two views of the shell from this specimen.

The photo of the animal is from Pl. 114, fig. 646D, and those of the shell are from Pl. 69, fig. 646E. The living animal was 4mm long, and was dredged from coarse sand in 2.5m on the lee side of Whale Cay, Abaco, Bahamas on August 5, 2000. Maximum diameter of the shell is about 1mm.

• Redfern, C. (2001) Bahamian Seashells: a Thousand Species from Abaco, Bahamas. BahamianSeashells.com, Inc.: Boca Raton, Florida

Best wishes,
Colin

bahamianseashells@att.net

Redfern, C., 2004 (Mar 15) Chelidonura africana, C. hummelincki & C. berolina. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12445

Thanks Colin,
To accompany your photos, here is a copy of Pruvot-Fol's drawing of the shell fragments removed from one of her preserved specimens. In it you can see the broad flattened thinly calcified part [a], which she described as 'membranous', and the small 'protoconch' section [b], which Pruvot-Fol described as 'calcified'. [Pruvot-Fol, 1953 -Text fig 6]

Your photo of the whole shell clearly shows the distinctive shape of the planar coiled protoconch. C. africana may not be the only species with this rather uniquely shaped spiral part of the shell, but it is the only species I have seen with this type of shell. Finding a similar shell in Caribbean animals, only adds to the weight of evidence showing that C. africana is to be found on both sides of the Atlantic. I discuss this in more detail in separate message [#12457].

• Pruvot-Fol, A. (1953) Etude de quelques opisthobranches de la cote Atlantique du Maroc et du Senegal. Travaux de l'Institute Scientifique Cherifien, Zoologie, 5: 1-105. (Pls.1-3)

Best wishes
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Mar 15). Comment on Chelidonura africana, C. hummelincki & C. berolina by Colin Redfern. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12445

Factsheet

Chelidonura africana

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