Petalifera ramosa from Bahamas
March 23, 2004
From: Lindsay Warren
Dear Bill
I recently came across some old photos I had taken in the Bahamas when I first took up photography. Amongst these were various opisthobranch shots including several of Petalifera ramosa which I thought might be of interest even though they are pretty poor shots. On reading the various postings on the Forum I noted the discussion as to whether those occuring in the Caribbean did not normally have branched papillae on the tubercles [message #9544]. My photos clearly show that well 'tufted' tubercles do occur on the body and rhinophores of at least some Caribbean specimens.
Specimens found at Lee Stocking Island, Exumas, Bahamas. April 1979.
Length: approximately 30-40mm. Photos: Lindsay Warren.
Hope these are of interest
All the best
Lindsay
alldcl@compuserve.com
Warren, L., 2004 (Mar 23) Petalifera ramosa from Bahamas. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12500Dear Lindsay,
Thanks very much for these excellent photos. They may not win a photographic prize but they are extremely valuable to us. They certainly show an animal with very papillate tubercles. As I noted previously, Tom Thompson [#9557] described how the papillae of Jamaican animals he observed were able to fully retract, but I have still had difficulty finding photos of Caribbean animals which convincingly show the papillae on display.
Animals photographed when stressed, or studied preserved, often show no evidence of papillae. This is clearly a trap for those relying on such transient characters in developing identification keys and even in cladistic analyses.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
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