Cyerce sp. 1.

Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: LIMAPONTIOIDEA
Family: Caliphyllidae

DISTRIBUTION

Known at present from Great Barrier Reef and Papua New Guinea.

PHOTO

UPPER: Lizard Is, North Queensland, 30 mm long alive. June 1979. PHOTO: Bill Rudman.
LOWER: Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, December 1998, at the reef crest, 35 mm long alive. PHOTO: Julie Marshall.

A rather cryptically camouflaged species of Cyerce, which is at present unnamed. It ranges in colour from the greenish tinge of the upper photo to the brown of the lower photo.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (July 18) Cyerce sp. 1. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/cyersp1

Related messages


Cyerce ? from Red Sea

September 15, 2008
From: Sylvain Le Bris

Hi Bill

Can you help me to identify these species, found under a rock, on the top of the reef in very shallow waters

Locality: Marsa Nakari, 1 m, Egypt, Red Sea, 17 July 2008. Length: 2cm. Photographer: Sylvain Le Bris.

Regards

Sylvain Le Bris

lebris.sylvain@gmail.com

Le Bris, S., 2008 (Sep 15) Cyerce ? from Red Sea. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21849

Dear Sylvain,

I am pretty sure this is Cyerce sp. 1. It is usually not as transparent as your animal, but otherwise its colour pattern is very similar.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2008 (Sep 15). Comment on Cyerce ? from Red Sea by Sylvain Le Bris. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21849

Cyerce sp. 1. - small version?

July 20, 1999
From: C. Carlson & P.J. Hoff

Bill,
Here is an animal similar to the last Cyerce posting from the GBR. We have recorded 39 specimens; the largest measured 5.5mm. If they are the same, the pronounced difference in size is perplexing (but would make yours easier to dissect).

Lower animal 4.8mm, upper 3.2mm. On the reef between Cocos and Merizo, 6m; 27 September 1970.

Clay & Patty Jo

clay.carlson@kuentos.guam.net

Carlson, C. & Hoff, P.J., 1999 (Jul 20) Cyerce sp. 1. - small version?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1083

Dear Clay & Patty Jo,
Your animals certainly look the same as the Great Barrier Reef specimens but the size difference is remarkable. Any evidence of reproduction, or is it possible that your animals for some reason (food shortage, predation etc) don't reach maturity?
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 1999 (Jul 20). Comment on Cyerce sp. 1. - small version? by C. Carlson & P.J. Hoff. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1083

Another Cyerce sp. from Heron Island

July 18, 1999
From: Julie Marshall

Hi Bill,

Here is another species of Cyerce from Heron Island [Great Barrier Reef]photographed in December 1998 at the reef crest under a dead coral slab at low tide. It was 35 mm in size which is the largest specimen I have found of this species (I have found four other animals at Heron Island). This species was illustrated from Papua-New Guinea in Coral Reef Animals of the Indo-Pacific by Gosliner, Behrens and Williams (p. 156).

Best wishes,

Julie

j.marshall@latrobe.edu.au

Marshall, J., 1999 (Jul 18) Another Cyerce sp. from Heron Island. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1064

Thanks Julie,
Another interesting find. As Gosliner, Behrens & Williams said, this species of Cyerce is unnamed.

Bill Rudman.