Elysia diomedea-look alike from Japan

June 19, 2002
From: Nishina Masayoshi

Dear Bill,
I found this animal in Zamami Island (Kerama island group) Okinawa. I feel this animal is similar to Elysia diomedea (Bergh, 1894), especially around the parapodial edge. What I noticed is this animal has orange dots on the parapodial and parapodial edge. So I do not think this is E. diomedea but may be related species.

24 May, 2002
Zamami Island, Okinawa Japan.
Length: 10mm

Found by Atsushi Ono
Photo by N.Masayoshi

Nishina

nishina@wips.co.jp

Masayoshi, N., 2002 (Jun 19) Elysia diomedea-look alike from Japan. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7152

Dear Nishina,
This is a fascinating animal. Its parapodia are indeed very folded, like in E. crispata and E. diomedea but it has very distinctive white spheres [glands?] arranged along the mantle edge. From the closeups we can clearly see that the finely branches digetsive gland ducts ramify throughout the parapodia and the rhinophores, suggesting this may be a 'solar powered' sacoglossan, keeping the algal chloroplasts alive and well in its own tissues.

Hopefully Kathe Jensen will recognise the species for us.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Jun 19). Comment on Elysia diomedea-look alike from Japan by Nishina Masayoshi. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7152

Factsheet

Elysia sp. 2.

Related messages

  1. Re: Elysia diomedea-look alike from Japan
    From: Kathe R. Jensen, June 21, 2002
  2. Re: Elysia diomedea-look alike from Japan
    From: Clay Carlson, June 19, 2002
  3. Re: Elysia sp. 2. from Kerama Is
    From: Clay Carlson , June 25, 1999
  4. Another Elysia sp from Kerama Is., Japan
    From: Atsushi Ono, June 24, 1999

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