Flabellina sp. 8 in the Marshall Islands

August 23, 2007
From: Scott Johnson

Hi Bill,

Looking at the recent messages on Flabellina sp. 8 (#20306, #20205 ) brought to mind one of my unidentified species from the Marshall Islands. The attached animals seem to be this species, although mine are a lot less brightly colored than specimens figured from Indonesia. Even the ring of red spots on the cerata is subdued. My seven recorded specimens were all from Enewetak Atoll on pier pilings or lagoon pinnacle reefs at depths of about 5 to 12 meters, and ranged from 6 to 11mm in length. Attached are photos of three of them.

Locality: Enewetak Atoll, 5-12 m, Marshall Islands, Pacific, March and April, 1983, Lagoon pinnacle reefs. Length: 6-11 mm. Photographer: Scott Johnson.

Scott Johnson.

uwkwaj@yahoo.com

Johnson, S., 2007 (Aug 23) Flabellina sp. 8 in the Marshall Islands. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20519

Thanks Scott,

As I mentioned before, this animal certainly has rhinophores like Aeolidia obscura Risbec, 1928 from New Caledonia, but your animals for Okinawa made me wonder if Baba had described anything similar from Japan with similar rhinophores. His Cratena pinnifera Baba, 1949 does indeed have similar rhinophores, and in general colour is very similar to your animals. However he described rounded foot corners, while in your animals the anterior foot corners are definitely tentacular. Cratena pinnifera also has a Cuthona-like radula which suggests it is more likely to be a tergipedid than a Cratena. However it is unusual to have a Cuthona with such rhinophores, so perhaps Cratena pinnifera needs to be re-examined as well.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Aug 23). Comment on Flabellina sp. 8 in the Marshall Islands by Scott Johnson. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20519

Factsheet

Flabellina sp. 8

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