Petalifera? sp. from Bahia de Banderas

June 28, 2002
From: Alicia Hermosillo

Dear Dr. Rudman,
I found this species of Petalifera? I have not been able to positively identify. I looks remarkably like the Dolabrifera dolabrifera I find here all the time, but it is not. This animal was moving fast, going from alga to alga (the ones you see in the picture) but it did not look to be eating it. Can you give me any light on this?

Photo: Islas Marietas, Bahia de Banderas, Pacific Coast of Mexico. 25 feet deep, 13mm long.

Alicia Hermosillo

gueri25@hotmail.com

Hermosillo, A., 2002 (Jun 28) Petalifera? sp. from Bahia de Banderas. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7326

Dear Alicia,
I am afraid much of the taxomonmy of sea hares has been done on preserved animals so the 'experts' realy knew nothing of th shape of the living animals. I am interested in your comment that it is not Dolabrifera dolabrifera as that would have been my first suggestion. Dolabrifera chnages shape very easily and when crawling on a flat surface appears much flatter than when it is moving amongst narrow branches as in your photo. I would be intereted in knowing what differences you have noticed. It is always possible that you have a new species, but if you do I suspect it will a Dolabrifera not a Petalifera. In the meantime I'll 'file' this message on the Dolabrifera dolabrifera page.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Jun 28). Comment on Petalifera? sp. from Bahia de Banderas by Alicia Hermosillo. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7326

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Dolabrifera dolabrifera

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