Hydatina stromfelti v Hydatina physis

February 2, 2000
From: Marco Neiber

Dear Dr. Rudman,
I read your internet pages about the genus Hydatina! I have five Hydatina specimens from the Canary Islands in my collection which Odhner, 1931 describes as a new species (Hydatina stromfelti). The living animal resembles the one of Hydatina physis, but the shell features are
different in many ways. I would like to know if Hydatina stromfelti Odhner, 1931 is a valid species, a subspecies of Hydatina physis or a geographical variant of Hydatina physis.

I hope to hear from you.
Yours,
Marco Neiber,
Germany.

Marco_Neiber@hotmail.com

Neiber, M., 2000 (Feb 2) Hydatina stromfelti v Hydatina physis. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1835

Dear Marco,
Many years ago I looked at the shells and animals of animals of H. stromfelti from the Canary Islands, H. vesicaria from Atlantic and H. physis from parts of the Pacific and concluded that they were all one species. I could find no anatomical differences and no consistent shell differences. I have recently looked at a range of shells in the Australian Museum collections and can find more variation within shells from one part of the Indo-West Pacific (eastern Australia) than I can between oceans. My feeling therefore remains that there is one circumtropical species, much like we now consider there is one circumtropical species of the related Micromelo.

Reference:
• Rudman, W.B., 1972. The anatomy of the opisthobranch genus Hydatina and the functioning of the mantle cavity and alimentary canal. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 51: 121-139.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Feb 2). Comment on Hydatina stromfelti v Hydatina physis by Marco Neiber. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1835

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