Phyllidiella annulata? from Mauritius
September 13, 1999
From: Erwin Koehler
Bill,
This one was taken by Fred Vogt, Hamburg, Germany at Mauritius, April 1999 size and depth unrecorded.
Is it Phyllidiella annulata (Gray, 1853)?
Erwin
Medslugs.Koehler@t-online.de
Koehler, E., 1999 (Sep 13) Phyllidiella annulata? from Mauritius. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1326Note added 7 November 2002: I have identified this as P. meandrina. - Bill Rudman
Dear Erwin,
My first thoughts were yes it is Phyllidiella annulata but on reflection I think it is a peculiar form of P. pustulosa in which some of the central clusters of tubercles have formed into rings. I'm afraid it all comes down to a question of definition. Brunckhorst compares the two species and says that in P. annulata there is a distinctive colour pattern of pink rings with, small low tubercles, on a black background. There is no central tubercle to each ring. He says P. annulata lacks the compound tubercles and tubercular clusters found in P. pustulosa. P. pustulosa also has a thin pink mantle border.
If this is so, then this animal doesn't fit the definition of P. annulata. I don't like saying 'something doesn't fit the definition' because 'definitions' are man-made and need to be changed if they don't fit the 'facts'. However, although this photo certainly looks like an intermediate between the two species, I think we would need further information to be sure. All I can say is that if the two are good species then I would guess that this animal is a from of P. pustulosa.
Bill Rudman.
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