Pleurobranchaea hedgpethi from Belize

October 14, 2002
From: Dave Behrens

Dear Bill,
Attached is another species from the Caribbean to add to the Forum. This I believe to be Pleurobranchaea hedgpethi.

The specimen was collected on a night dive at Nicholas Cut, Belize, Central America by Jeff Hamann.

Dave Behrens

dave@seachallengers.com

Behrens, D., 2002 (Oct 14) Pleurobranchaea hedgpethi from Belize. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/8155

Thanks Dave,
Pleurobranchaea hedgpethi was originally described (Abbott, 1952) from a preserved specimen from Texas, approx 40mm long preserved. In life it was reported to be 'sepia brown with lighter mottlings". As I discuss in reply to Anne DuPont's message from Florida, Marcus & Gosliner (1984) consider P. hedgepethi to be a synonym of P. inconspicua. In your animal the brown reticulate pattern seems to be more obvious than in the Florida animal, and the white patches less obvious. Both have a brown median line on the posterior foot and a caudal spur. From my experience of Pacific species, the colour pattern of species of Pleurobranchaea are quite variable.

• Abbott, R.T. (1952) Two new opisthobranch mollusks from the Gulf of Mexico belonging to the genera Pleurobranchaea and Polycera. Florida State University Studies, 7: 1-7.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Oct 14). Comment on Pleurobranchaea hedgpethi from Belize by Dave Behrens. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/8155

Factsheet

Pleurobranchaea inconspicua?

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