Re: Petalifera? sp. from Bahia de Banderas

July 4, 2002
From: Alicia Hermosillo


Dear Dr. Rudman,
I wish I could tell you what makes me think that this animal is not Dolabrifera dolabrifera but a Petalifera ... it is just different enough. This picture I sent I took it when taxonomist Sandra Millen was diving here, and we both looked at it over and over and it did not seem to be D. dolabrifera. I guess we should do some dissecting to be sure but you are probably correct. I let you know if I find more.

This picture is of a Dolabrifera dolabrifera like the ones I see around, the vary from pink, brown and red. This one is 21mm long, 15 feet deep from Mismaloya, Bahia de Banderas, Pacific Coast of Mexico, May 9th. (The pink one is from 17 feet deep and is 18mm long, same day and location)

Ali

gueri25@hotmail.com

Hermosillo, A., 2002 (Jul 4) Re: Petalifera? sp. from Bahia de Banderas. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7396

Dear Ali,
I know that feeling well. It can be very frustrating to have that 'feeling' that something's different but be unable to quantify it or put it in words. My only advice is to persevere, it may take a year or more, but if you are lucky you'll find the answer. Looking at your lower photo, the animal seems to have papillae all over its back just like the earlier animal. On some of the rounded tubercles you can see short thin papillae. These are almost certainly retracted branching papillae. Although these animals seem tough, the papillae can be very sensitive to disturbance and can takes hours bfore the papillae fully expand -especially when you want to photograph them.
Good Luck,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Jul 4). Comment on Re: Petalifera? sp. from Bahia de Banderas by Alicia Hermosillo. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7396

Factsheet

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