Tularia bractea from New Zealand

September 11, 2007
From: Bill Rudman

A couple of years ago Michael C. Miller, who as published widely on the New Zeland nudibranch fauna, allowed me to scan a selection of his slides of the New Zealand fauna for use on the Forum. I had planned to post them all quite quickly but I obviously have more enthusiasm than time, so I gradually posting hisphotos as time allows. Many of them represent species which have not previously been illustrated, or are animals Michael Miller used when preparing the beautiful water colour paintings which accompany many of his descriptions.

To accompany two messages from Ian Skipworth [#20678, #20677 ] which I have identified as Tularia bractea , here is a photo of an animal that Michael Miller has identified as that species, and formed part of his description.

Locality: Waiwera, east coast, nth of Auckland, 22 June 1963 [6 specimens on hydroids on Carpophyllum ]. Photo: M.C.Miller

This is particularly valuable as the only information we have on this species is the original description (Burn, 1962) and a later redescription (Burn, 1966) of animals from Victoria, Australia in which the external features are not very clear. Fortunately in Burn's redescription he describes the presence of lateral radular teeth, which with the ceratal arrangement and tentacular anterior foot corners, allowed Miller to identify his New Zealand specimens as this species. The description on the Fact Sheet of the colour and external features is based on the photos on the Forum of NZ specimens from Michael Miller and Ian Skipworth.

  • Burn, R.F. (1962) Descriptions of Victorian nudibranchiate mollusca, with a comprehensive review of the Eolidacea. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, 25: 95-128.
  • Burn, R.F. (1966)  Descriptions of Australian Eolidacea (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia). 3. The genera Tularia, Embletonia and Austraeolis, with a note on Tergipes pauculas Burn, 1962. J. Mal. Soc. Aust., 9: 25-35.
  • Miller, M. C. (1971) Aeolid nudibranchs of the family Flabellinidae and Eubranchidae from New Zealand waters. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 50: 311-337.

Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Sep 11) Tularia bractea from New Zealand. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20681

Factsheet

Tularia bractea

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