Ercolania coerulea
Trinchese, 1892

Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: LIMAPONTIOIDEA
Family: Limapontiidae

DISTRIBUTION

Originally described from the Mediterranean, it has also been reported from the Caribbean, and more recently the Indo-West Pacific (Hong Kong, Tanzania).

PHOTO

Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 25 Feb 1978 on algae Dictyosphaeria cavernosa. 8 animals, largest 12mm long alive. Photos: Bill Rudman

RELATED TOPIC

Ercolania cf. coerulea

The animal is translucent to transparent with the branching ducts of the green or green-brown digestive gland showing through the body wall. Branches of the digestive gland ramify through the dorsal body wall, rhinophores and cerata. Schmekel & Portmann (1982) give a detailed description of the colour of Mediterranean specimens. They describe opaque white clustered on the tips of the rhinophores and the pericardium, and opaque white spots on the cerata arranged in a characteristic pattern, consisting of a white tip to the cerata and a white line running from the tip down the sides of the ceras. They also describe a blue 'blotch' on the dorsal surface of each ceras, and smaller blue spots scattered elsewhere on the cerata. They report that it feeds on the green alga Valonia. It grows to about 14 mm in length.

Jensen (1985) identifies animals from Hong Kong as E. coerulea, and has confirmed the identity of animals from Tanzania on the Forum [message #6643] as this species. The Indo-West Pacific 'form; feeds on Dictyosphaeria, and lacks the blue spots on the cerata.

• Jensen, K. R. (1985) Annotated checklist of Hong Kong Ascoglossa (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia), with descriptions of four new species: Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on the Malacofauna of Hong Kong and Southern China, Hong Kong, 1983. (Eds B. Morton, D. Dudgeon, B. Morton, and D. Dudgeon.) pp. 77-107. (Hong Kong University Press: Hong Kong.)
• Schmekel, L. and Portmann, A. (1982) Opisthobranchia des Mittelmeeres, Nudibranchia und Saccoglossa. Fauna e Flora del Golfo di Napoli, 40. Monografia della Stazione Zoologica di Napoli: 1-410.
• Trinchese, S. (1892) Nuovi ascoglossi del golfo di Napoli. Rend. Accad. Sci. Fis. May. Soc. R. Napoli, 7: 154-155.

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