Tularia bractea from New Zealand

Dear Ian,

Looking back at my previous answers to you about Cuthona scintillans, I see that in one of your messages [#15192] I have apparently misled you. I am pretty sure that animal is the same species as this animal - which is Tularia bractea. In that previous message you can't see the tentacle like corners at the anterior edge of the foot, which would preclude it as being a Cuthona. Also I wasn't really expecting T. bractea to have a green form. In this present specimen the very obvious tentacular foot corners in your photo immediately made identifying this as Cuthona scintillans impossible.

As you will see I am posting a photo from Michael Miller of this species from New Zealand and a Fact Sheet. I am pretty sure your reddish animal in a separate message [#20677] is Tularia bractea as well.

In the close-up alongside in the region between ceratal rows 3 and 4 from the front you can see the anus [an] and the position of the heart [h]. Because it is transparent the heart is often hard to see in photos, but if you see the animal alive you can usually see the pericardial sac as a raised bump in the middle of the back, and you can usually see the heart vigorously beating away inside. In this photo, the yellowish green bands are the shared digestive gland ducts in the body and the ceratal brackets I mention in the Fact Sheet. The colour of the digestive gland duct intensifies within each ceras.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman