Crosslandia? in Costa Rica

April 22, 2002
From: Peter Ajtai


Hello Bill,
I found this sea slug on leaves of Halimeda off the north western Pacific coast of Costa Rica. I think I have this guy narrowed down to Crosslandia daedali or C. viridis, but I do not know how to tell the two apart. What do you think? It was at a depth of about 15ft and is about 1cm long.

Best wishes,
Peter Ajtai.

ajtai@slugophile.org

Ajtai, P., 2002 (Apr 22) Crosslandia? in Costa Rica. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6737

Dear Peter,
This is an interesting find. It is indeed a species of Crosslandia but we know so little about the species of this genus that distinguishing them from one another is still a game of guesswork. I don't know why they seem to be so rare, perhaps they are just very well camouflaged. The only species described from the eastern Pacific is Crosslandia daedali Poorman & Mulliner, 1981, so until we know more about its relationship with the Indo-West Pacific species such as C. viridis, I guess it is best to identify it as C. daedali. As far as I know it has only previously been reported from Baja California Peninsula.

• Poorman, L.H. & Mulliner, D.K. (1981) A new species of Crosslandia (Nudibranchia: Dendronotacea) from the Gulf of California. The Nautilus, 95(2): 96–99.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Apr 22). Comment on Crosslandia? in Costa Rica by Peter Ajtai. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6737

Factsheet

Crosslandia sp. 1

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