Aldisa banyulensis
Pruvot-Fol 1951

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: EUDORIDOIDEA
Family: Dorididae

PHOTO

A, Ventral view of anterior end showing oral tentacles. B, 8 mm long, Punta del Vapor, Almuñecar, Granada, Spain. 6m deep, 20 October 1996. C, 18 mm long, Punta del Vapor, Almuñecar, Granada, Spain. 4m deep. 13 January, 2000. Photos: Luis Sanchez Tocino.

The identity of species of red species of Aldisa in the eastern Atlantic is somewhat confused. See A. smaragdina for a general discussion.

A. smaragdina, like A. banyulensis is red or orange-red with some white streaks on the mantle skirt. The mantle is pustulose and there are two darker pits in the dorsal midline between the gills and the rhinophores. The two differ in a number of external features. The rhinophores in A. smaragdina have few lamellae and they are arranged almost vertically while in A. banyulensis the more numerous lamellae are arranged horizontally. The gills in A. smaragdina are whitish in the upper half and red basally while in A. banyulensis they are a translucent red with no major white pigmentation. The rhinophore pockets in A. smaragdina have a series of tubercles around the edge and the gill pocket is strongly crenulate. In comparision, the edges of these pockets in A. banyulensis are smooth. Another more difficult difference to see is the shape of the head. In A. smaragdina the oral tentacles are slightly enrolled and bluntly cut off at the end, while in A. banyulensis they are triangular and flattened, with a pointed end. Both species have red eggs but they are larger [200µm diam] in A. banyulensis than in A. smaragdina [130µm].

Reference:
• Garcia, F.J., Garcia-Gomez, J.C. & Cervera, J.L. (1986) Ridescrizione di Aldisa banyulensis Pruvot-Fol, 1951 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Nudibranchia). Lavori della Societe Italiana di Malacologia, 22: 97-110.
• Millen, S.V. & Gosliner, T.M. (1985) Four new species of dorid nudibranchs belonging to the genus Aldisa (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia), with a revision of the genus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 84: 195-233.
• Ortea, J.A., Perez, J.M. & Llera, E.M. (1982) Moluscos opistobranquios recolectados durante el plan de bentos circuncanario. Doridacea: primera parte (1). Cuadernos del Crinas, 3: 1-48.
• Pruvot-Fol, A. (1951) Etudes des nudibranches de la Mediterranee. 2. Arch. Zool. Exp. Gen., 88(1): 1-8O. (Pls. 14)
• Pruvot-Fol, A. (1953) Etude de quelques opisthobranches de la cote Atlantique du Maroc et du Senegal. Travaux de l'Institute Scientifique Cherifien, Zoologie, 5: 1-105. (Pls. 1-3)

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2002 (November 11) Aldisa banyulensis Pruvot-Fol 1951. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/aldibany

Copyright © Australian Museum, 1998-2010