Placida dendritica or Ercolania subviridis ? [1]

February 24, 2006
From: Yukari Tani


Dear Dr.Bill,
We judged this species to be Ercolania subviridis in the beginning because the feeler is a cylinder shape. But when I found message #7149  - Placida dendritica from Scotland - we are confused again.

Locality: Eelgrass Beds, 1.5 m, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Pacific Ocean, 04 January 2006, Backside of stone on sands. Length: 10 mm. Photographer: Yukari Tani.

Would you give us your advice, please ?  I've sent a second message [#15928 ] with a similar problem.
Best regards,
Gon

dswith@isletwind.com

Yukari Tani, 2006 (Feb 24) Placida dendritica or Ercolania subviridis ? [1]. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15927

Dear Gon,
There's no shame on being confused with these animals. It will need a lot more observations and dissections before we have them sorted out.

I suspect your species is an Ercolania, but I don't think it is E. subviridis. In that species the ceratal digestive gland has a series of longitudinal green ducts, while in your animal the ceratal digestive appears to be an expandable sac, giving the ceratal wall a greenish tinge all over when the digestive duct is expanded.

I think I should leave this to an expert on this group. Perhaps Kathe Jensen or Cynthia Trowbridge would like to say something?

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Feb 24). Comment on Placida dendritica or Ercolania subviridis ? [1] by Yukari Tani. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15927

Factsheet

Ercolania sp. 5

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