Dendronotus sp.? from Colombia

June 18, 2002
From: Alexander Taborda M.

Dear Dr. Rudman,
Please, I need your collaboration in the identification this organism. Is it Dendronotus sp? I don't know the species, what is your opinion?. Collected in a botton trawl at 80 meters depth, Santa Marta, Carribbean coast Colombia.
Thanks,
Alexander.

alexandertaborda@hotmail.com

Taborda, A., 2002 (Jun 18) Dendronotus sp.? from Colombia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7252

Dear Alexander,
I am sure this is not a species of Dendronotus. The tricuspid shape of the central radular tooth is very typical of the tritoniids, as is the general body shape. I don't think it is possible to identify this species from the external characters of a preserved animal, and you don't give me any idication of size, but I suspect it is probably a species of Marionia, and possibly Marionia cucullata as defined by Marcus (1983). In the lower right photo you can see the genital opening below and between the 2nd and 3rd gills, and the anus just behind the 4th gill, which is characteristic of that species. However without further information on the alimentary canal, size and colour of the living animal it is not possible to give a valid identification. From Marcus's review, I suspect a lot more needs to be known about the living tritoniids of the Caribbean before sense can be made of those that have been named from preserved animals in the past.

• Marcus, Ev. (1983) The western Atlantic Tritoniidae. Boletim de Zoologia, University of Sao Paulo, 6: 177-214.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Jun 18). Comment on Dendronotus sp.? from Colombia by Alexander Taborda M.. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7252

Factsheet

Unidentified - Caribbean and South America (Atlantic)

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