Cyerce antillensis
Engel, 1927

Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: LIMAPONTIOIDEA
Family: Caliphyllidae

DISTRIBUTION

Caribbean

PHOTO

Tarpon Springs, Gulf Coast of Florida. on Penicillus sp. approx 1cm long. Photo: S. Pierce.

The body is usually greenish in colour but sometimes may be yellow, perhaps through lack of plant material in the digestive gland. There is often white pigmentation on the dorsal surface of the body and sometimes ther can be a brownish pattern on the head. The cerata are usually transparent with some scattered white spots and often a concentration of white spots in a band along the terminal edge of each ceras, which is ornamented with a series of prominent rounded tubercles. There is often a dark spot in the midline of the ceras near the tip, and sometimes a second near the insertion point. Like all species of Cyerce it can be distinguished from species of Polybranchia and Mourgona, also found in the Caribbean, by the lack of digestive gland branches in the cerata.

Cyerce antillensis has been reported by Redfern (2001) to be found commonly in association with the green algae Penicillus dunetosus in the Bahamas. He reports it growing to at least 15mm in length.

References:
• Marcus, Er. & Marcus, Ev. (1970) Opisthobranchs from Curacao and faunistically related regions. Uitqaven van der Natuurwetenschappelijke Studiekring voor Suriname en de Nederlandse Antillen, 59: 1-129.
• Marcus, Ev. & Marcus, Er. (1963) Opisthobranchs from the Lesser Antilles. Studies on the Fauna of Curacao and other Caribbean Islands, 19(79): 1-76.
• Marcus, Ev. & Hughes, H.P.I. (1974) Opisthobranch mollusks from Barbados. Bulletin of Marine Science, 24(3): 498-532.
• Redfern. C., 2001. Bahamian Seashells: a Thousand Species from Abaco, Bahamas. Bahamianseashells.com Inc: Boca Raton, Florida. 1-280.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2003 (October 18) Cyerce antillensis Engel, 1927. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/cyeranti

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