Re: Aggregation of Stylocheilus striatus in Indonesia

January 24, 2006
From: Clay Carlson

Concerning message #15629:

It looks like Philinopsis cyanea (Martens, 1879), is a junior synonym of P. speciosa (Pease, 1860). The description given in Rudman, 1972: 389 for P. speciosa pretty well matches what is shown here as P. cyanea.

  • Rudman,W.B., 1972. A comparative study of the genus Philinopsis Pease, 1860 (Aglajidae, Opisthobranchia). Pacific Science, 26: 381-399.

Clay Carlson

ccarlson@guam.net

Carlson, C & Hoff, P-J., 2006 (Jan 24) Re: Aggregation of Stylocheilus striatus in Indonesia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15635

Dear Clay,
Who am I to disagree with Rudman? Certainly Pease's description and Alison Kay's photos are very similar to P. cyanea, and the anatomy of specimens from Hawaii that I studied showed no differences to that species. At that stage I tended to respect the views of Hawaiian biologists who believed there was considerable endemism in the fauna.  I think today I would have had little hesitation in considering the two species to be the same.

I don't know why Mike Roberts' message [#14082] of a  Philinopsis feeding on Stylocheilus in Hawaii didn't jog my memory. Unfortunately the copy slides Alison Kay sent me have faded so I can't compare the colour of Hawaiian specimens. If anyone has photos showing colour forms of Philinopsis speciosa or P. cyanea from Hawaii, they would be very welcome.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Jan 24). Comment on Re: Aggregation of Stylocheilus striatus in Indonesia by Clay Carlson. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15635

Factsheet

Philinopsis speciosa

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