Aegires petalis
Fahey and Gosliner, 2004

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: ANADORIDOIDEA
Family: Aegiretidae

DISTRIBUTION

Only reported from Papua New Guinea

PHOTO

Upper right: (D) Aegires petalis - HOLOTYPE. CASIZ 168920, 5 mm,  Anemone Reef, Madang, Papua New Guinea, collected February 1988, Photo: T. Gosliner. Lower photos: SEM of radula. Scale bar = 10µm. Photos from Fahey & Gosliner (2004).

This Aegires species has two lines of raised, flat-topped tubercles along the anterior half of the dorsum. On the posterior half of the dorsum, the largest tubercles are arranged in a diamond pattern. There are also large, flat-topped tubercles along the edge of the dorsum. The rhinophore pocket is tall, cylindrical and has a petal-like outer edge. The background color is white, as are the tubercles, the rhinophores and the gill leaves. The specimen from Papua New Guinea is 5 mm in length.

Externally this species most closely resembles A. ortizi Templado, Luque and Ortea, 1987. Both species are either white or creamy yellow (A. ortizi) and have dorsal tubercles. However the tubercles of A. ortizi are arranged in four longitudinal rows, whereas in A. petalis the tubercles are randomly scattered. Aegires ortizi also has brown coloration and minute white spots between the tubercles, which A. petalis does not have. There are three large tubercles on the outside of the rhinophore sheaths of A. ortizi but the rhinophore margins of A. petalis are elevated and multi-lobed. The three gill appendages of A. petalis have flattened tops, but in A. ortizi the appendages are pointed.

  • Fahey, S. J. & Gosliner, T. M. (2004) A Phylogenetic Analysis of the Aegiridae Fischer, 1883 (Mollusca, Nudibranchia, Phanerobranchia) with Descriptions of Eight New Species and a Reassessment of Phanerobranch Relationships. Proceedings of the CaliforniaAcademy of Sciences, 55, (34): 613–689, 82 figs., 4 tables (Appendix).

Authorship details
Fahey, S. J. & Gosliner, T. M., 2005 (July 8) Aegires petalis Fahey and Gosliner, 2004. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/aegipeta