Gastropteron rubrum
(Rafinesque, 1814)
Order: CEPHALASPIDEA
Superfamily: PHILINOIDEA
Family: Gastropteridae
DISTRIBUTION
Mediterranean, Atlantic coast from southern France to Morocco. Found from shallow sublittoral to 300m.
PHOTO
Antibes, French Mediterranean Sea. sandy bottom -30-40m. August 2001. UPPER RIGHT: antero-dorsal view of swimming animal. LOWER LEFT: Right side of animal - head at right. LOWER RIGHT: Ventral view of swimming animal - head at upper right. PHOTOS: Michel Dune.
Animal reddish purple, orange-red or pink with white or bluish-white border to parapodia and posterior end of head shield. Scattered bluish white spots on outside of parapodia. Grows to 35mm long. Like most gastropterids it is able to a swim by flapping its muscular parapodia.
Many Europeans workers have considered the name Gastropteron rubrum (Rafinesque, 1814) to be a junior synonym of G. meckeli Kosse, 1813, but Kosse in fact never introduced a species name. See messages from Bill Rudman and Schroedl & Koehler.
This species has been reported from the west Atlantic from Florida to Sao Paulo, Brasil, but Gosliner (1989) considers all records of G. rubrum from the western Atlantic to be misidentifications of Gastropteron chacmol.
References:
• Abbott, R.T. (1954) American Seashells. van Nostrand: Mew York. 541pp [and later editions]
• Blainville, H. M. D. 1825, Manuel de malacologie et de conchyliologie, vii + 647 pp. Leurault, Paris [Atlas of Plates (1-87) published 1827].
• Ferussac, A,. 1822. Tableaux systematiques des animaux mollusques, classes en familles naturelles, dans lesquels ou est etabli la concordance de tous les systemes. Suivis d'un Prodrome General. xlvii + 110pp.
• Fischer, P. 1910. Observations sur la synonymie et l'habitat du Gastropteron rubrum Rafinesque. Journal de Conchyliologie, 30(4): 349-353.
• Gosliner, T.M. (1989): Revision of the Gastropteridae (Opisthobranchia: Cephalaspidea) with descriptions of a new genus and six new species. The Veliger, 32(4): 333-381.
• Kosse, J.F.J., 1813. De Pteropodum ordine et nova ipsius Genera. p10-16, figs 11-14. Thesis: Halle
• Marcus, Ev. & Marcus, Er. (1960)Opisthobranchs from American Atlantic warm waters. Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean, 10(2): 129-203.
• Rafinesque, C. S., 1814. Quadro dei generi di Moll. pteropodi dei Signore Peron e Lesueur, dal Signor C. S. Rafinesque Schmaltz. Specchio delle scienze, Giornale Encyclopedico de Sicilia Palermo, 2(11):153-154.
• Rafinesque, C. S., 1814. Precis des decouvertes somiologiques ou zoologiques et botaniques, p. 30. Palermo
Rudman, W.B., 2001 (September 2) Gastropteron rubrum (Rafinesque, 1814). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/gastrubr
Related messages
Gastropteron rubrum from Greece
June 1, 2010
From: Dimitris Poursanidis
A friend of mine found and photographed this some days ago.
I have never seen it (and from the literature I cannot find out what it is)
Any idea?
Locality: Patra, Greece. Photographer: Milionis Costas
Dimitris Poursanidis
dpoursanidis@gmail.com
Dimitris Poursanidis, 2010 (Jun 1) Gastropteron rubrum from Greece. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23703Dear Dimitris,
This is the spectacular Gastropteron rubrum. If you look at the species Fact Sheet and the earlier messages attached to it, you will see that it is able to swim like a little butterfly. Unfortunately we know very little about the biology of Gastropteron or any of its close relatives.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Re: Swimming Gastropteron rubrum from Croatia
April 19, 2005
From: Tom Turk
Dear Andrej,
Concerning your recent query [#13518]: Your are absolutely right, I made a typing error, according to the photographer statement the actual size of the slugs is about 50 mm. Concerning the orientation of the picture I sent the picture in the orientation I had received it.
Regards,
Tom
tom.turk@bf.uni-lj.si
Turk, T., 2005 (Apr 19) Re: Swimming Gastropteron rubrum from Croatia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13569Thanks Tom,
Bill Rudman
Re: Swimming Gastropteron rubrum from Croatia
April 18, 2005
From: Andrej Jaklin
Dear Bill and Tom,
Concernng the photo in Tom Turk's message [#13449]: This is a really nice picture. Two things from the message I have difficulty in accepting:
- from my personal experiences this species is always less than 5 cm long, so mentioned size in way too big; pictures I sent to the forum [#11952 ] were taken with 1:1 extension tube, meaning animals are less than 36 mm long
- from this picture it seems that animals are swiming up side down! is it possible that slide wasn't properly oriented?
And yes, this species seems to be rather rare in the Adriatic, all the data I collected are from the area around Senj.
Best regards,
AJ
jaklin@cim.irb.hr
Jaklin, A., 2005 (Apr 18) Re: Swimming Gastropteron rubrum from Croatia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13518Dear Andrej,
I agree the size seems very large. Concerning the orientation - I have not seen this species swimming, but species that I have do seem to be a bit uncontrolled, so a bit of 'upside down' swimmimg wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Hopefully Tom can clarify these points
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Swimming Gastropteron rubrum from Croatia
April 12, 2005
From: Tom Turk
Dear Bill,
Could you please comment on these two specimen of nudibranches. The picture was taken on the night dive in shallow water near the town of Selce in northern Adriatic. By my best knowledge it is the first picture of to me an unknown species which is probably very rare. This slugs were big, at least 15 cm.
Locality: Selce, Croatia, Northern Adriatic Sea. Depth: 15 m. Length: 150 mm. few years ago. mixed sand and rocks. Photographer: Gianni Pecchiar. [Note added 19 April 2005: Length 50 mm NOT 150 mm [see #13569]]
Tom Turk
tom.turk@bf.uni-lj.si
Turk, T., 2005 (Apr 12) Swimming Gastropteron rubrum from Croatia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13449Dear Tom,
Thanks to you and Gianni for this beautiful photo of Gastropteron rubrum swimming. This species ranges in colour from this dull reddish brown to a bright red. There is a photo on the Forum of a red specimen from the Adriatic Sea [#9020 ].
Could you possibly confirm the length of 150 mm? This seems very large. I would be surprised if it grew longer than 35 - 40 mm.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Re: Gastropteron rubrum from Turkey
February 18, 2004
From: Umut Tural
Dear Bill ,
Fİrst of all thank you for [your response]. When we saw the Gastropteron rubrum at 45m, it was swimming near the bottom. When we approached it, it was disturbed by our activity in the water then descended to the bottom and tried to hide & camouflage itself amongst the grasses & plant cover without any colour variation. A question - could it feed feed on Caulerpa racemosa???
This species is still known as Gastropteron meckeli in Turkey. Thanks for the article in the Forum which explains which is the correct name to use.
Many thanks for this forum.
Best regards
Umut Tural.
umuttu@tnn.net
Tural, U., 2004 (Feb 18) Re: Gastropteron rubrum from Turkey. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12252Dear Umut,
Thanks for the background information. Concerning what it eats. All the families related to the Gastropteridae - Aglajidae, Philinidae, Scaphandridae - are carnivores, and its digestive system is designed for carnivory. I suspect gastropterids eat some sort of worm but what sort is till a mystery
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
Gastropteron rubrum from Turkey
February 14, 2004
From: Umut Tural
Dear Bill,
I was checking our video archive that we recorded during our research of biological diversity of Datça-Bozburun, on the south coast of Turkey in Mediterranean sea
I've noticed a really tiny sea hare which was swimming around Caulerpa racemosa on the sandy bottom that I couldn't identify. I've captured some photoshots from the videoscenes ,but unfortunately these photos are not so clear to identify.I would very much appreciate,if you could help me...
Umut Tural
umuttu@tnn.net
Dear Umut,
It looks quite like a very small Sea Hare but it is in fact that swimming cephalaspidean, Gastropteron rubrum. It's nice to see some photos of it in situ. Did you find it swimming like this or was it disturbed by your activity in the water?
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
Re: Gastropteron rubrum from the Bahamas
January 20, 2004
From: Andrej Jaklin
Dear Bill,
Concerning Anne Dupont's message from the Bahamas: Based only on pictures and personal experiences, my 'feeling' is that those animals are not the same species as we have here in the Mediterranean. I have some pictures of Gastropteron rubrum the Adriatic Sea and two of them, which I attach, show differences: colour of body and borders, size of parapodia, body proportions (tail, siphon). Maybe all mentioned differences are not so significant, but who knows?
Best regards,
AJ
jaklin@cim.irb.hr
Thanks Andrej,
Your 'feelings' are quite correct. The Caribbean animal, although previously identified as G. rubrum, was shown to be a separate species, G. chacmol by Terry Gosliner (1989).
I am pleased to see some more photos of true G. rubrum. I have included a close-up of the simple siphon. It is also interesting to see by comparing your photos with others on the Forum, that the colour around the border ranges from yellow in some animals to white in others.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
Gastropteron rubrum from the Adriatic
January 23, 2003
From: Gennaro Ciavarella
Dear Bill,
This photo was taken at the Tremiti Isles, off the east coast of Italy, in the Adriatic Sea [at 40 mt near a wall at San Nicola island].
Gennaro Ciavarella
gciavarella@tin.it
Dear Gennaro,
Your animal is Gastropteron rubrum. If you look at other photos on this page you will see that it uses its two large parapodia [or wings] for swimming. It certainly looks like some of the swimming Sea Hares or Aplysia but is in fact a very specialised member of the Cephalaspidea or 'Bubble Shells'.
Looking at your photo carefully, it seems there are two animals. One smaller one seems to be sitting inside the parapodial flaps of the larger animal. If so I suspect they are mating.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Re: Gastropteron rubrum not G. meckeli
November 3, 2001
From: Angel Valdes
Dear Michael, Erwin and Bill,
This situation with Gastropteron meckeli and G. rubrum is not clear to me. If Kosse (1813) mentioned the species name "Doridiorum Meckelii," which appears to be a valid binominal name, in the same paper and associated with the description of Gastropteron, this is a valid introduction of a new name, regardless of his intentions or the fact that it was combined with two different genus names. I read carefully the Article 11 of the Code and I could not find anything that would make Gastropteron meckelii an unavailable name.
It would be useful to reproduce the original text in the Forum, so more people could read it and provide opinions and interpretations.
Best regards,
Angel
avaldes@nhm.org
Valdes, A., 2001 (Nov 3) Re: Gastropteron rubrum not G. meckeli. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5613Dear Angel,
My understanding is that that whole of Kosse's thesis was written in Latin so it is easy for later readers to mistakenly consider a Latin phrase like "Doridiorum Meckelii" to be a latinised species name. Michael is saying that Kosse, in the relevant paragraph, is comparing the anatomy of his Gastropteron with that of the species of Doridium described by Meckel (1809). "Doridiorum Meckelii" as used by Kosse is not as a species name but as a Latin phrase meaning "the Doridium species (plural) of Meckel" [D. membranaceum and D. coriaceum].
I can't see any other interpretation making sense. Why would he introduce a new name Doridiorum meckelii for a species he was making the type of a new genus Gastropteron? Surely he would have just called it Gastropteron meckelii.
I am happy to make Kosse available as a pdf file but it may take a few days.
Cheers,
Bill Rudman
Gastropteron rubrum not G. meckeli
November 2, 2001
From: Michael Schroedl & Erwin Köhler
Dear Bill,
This comment is with regard to your discussion on the valid name of the Mediterranean species of Gastropteron. I hope you will be pleased to hear that finally we got access to Kosse's Latin doctoral thesis (1813) on microfiches. He compared the morphology and anatomy of "pteropod" genera known at that time, introducing the genus name Gastropteron. Fischer (1910) was correct in saying that Kosse (1813) did not use any species names in this study. Thus, there is no valid name "Gastropteron meckeli Kosse, 1813" either. This confirms your view (Rudman - Sea Slug Forum, September 6, 2001), that the Mediterranean species should be called Gastropteron rubrum (Rafinesque, 1814).
The reason for some authors having suspected "Gastropteron meckeli Kosse, 1813" to be an available name may be that, at the beginning of a chapter comparing the head of "pteropods" (page 11), Kosse (1813) referred to his drawings of Gastropteron by footnotes. In the same chapter Kosse mentioned "…Doridiorum Meckelii…", which is just a normal Latin genitive plural for "Doridium" (Doridium Meckel, 1809 = Aglaja) and genitive singular for "Meckel". From the context this is just part of a comparative description but by no means a somewhat "hidden" proposal for a species name for Gastropteron.
By the way, I was always hating Latin and I still do.
Best regards,
Michael and Erwin
schroedl@zi.biologie.uni-muenchen.de
Schroedl, M., 2001 (Nov 2) Gastropteron rubrum not G. meckeli. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5605Dear Michael,
I am indeed pleased to have that sorted out. I put in an inter-library loan request for a copy of Kosse in early September and am still waiting - although if it was all Latin I would have been in trouble.
Thanks very much for checking this out,
Bill Rudman
Re: Gastropteron rubrum or G. meckeli
September 8, 2001
From: Juan Lucas Cervera
Dear Bill,
Unfortunately, I have no a copy of Kosse' reference. I hope someone has and they can help us to resolve this matter.
Regards.
Lucas.
lucas.cervera@uca.es
Cervera, J.L., 2001 (Sep 8) Re: Gastropteron rubrum or G. meckeli. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5229Re: Gastropteron rubrum from Mediterranean France
September 6, 2001
From: Erwin Köhler
Hi Bill,
Gastropteron meckeli Kosse, 1813 is the older name for Gastropteron rubrum. It is one year older than Sarcopterus ruber Rafinesque, 1814.
Erwin
Erwin@medslugs.de
Köhler, E., 2001 (Sep 6) Re: Gastropteron rubrum from Mediterranean France. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5210Dear Erwin,
Thanks for your comment about its name. Lucas Cervera has made the same comment. I don't think it is quite as simple as it at first appears. I have posted my comments separately. Hopefully someone in Europe has access to Kosse, 1813 and can check whether the species name G. meckeli is actually described, or even used in that publication.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Gastropteron rubrum or G. meckeli
September 6, 2001
From: Juan Lucas Cervera
Dear Bill,
In Europe, the name Gastropteron rubrum (Rafinesque, 1814) is considered a junior synonym of G. meckeli Kosse, 1813. This is the only one known species of this genus in Europe. The photos that have been sent to the Sea Slug Forum shows animals quite different to that we can see at the Erwin Koehler Website (animals from Malta, Mediterranean). I'm not an expert in this genus. In fact, I've seen only once in southern Portugal and the specimens was a yellowinsh pink animal. Nevertheless, it seems that this species varies in colour, doesn't it?
Cheers,
Lucas.
lucas.cervera@uca.es
Cervera, J.L., 2001 (Sep 6) Gastropteron rubrum or G. meckeli. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5213Dear Lucas,
My understanding is that this species is quite variable in colour - but that is only from reading the literature. Concerning its name, Erwin Koehler has made the same comment as you. I have posted my comments separately. I look forward to some replies from Europe.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Re: Gastropteron rubrum or G. meckeli
September 6, 2001
From: Bill Rudman
Concerning the comments by Erwin Koehler and Lucas Cervera about whether Gastropteron rubrum has priority over Gastropteron meckeli.
I have always followed Fischer (1910) in considering Gastropteron rubrum to be the earliest available name as do most authors who have worked on the group [Marcus & Marcus, Gosliner, Baba, etc]. Fischer considers that the author of the name Gastropteron was Kosse, not Meckel in Kosse, and that no type species was proposed in the original description. He writes:
"Many authors (Philippi, delle Chiaje, H.& A. Adams, Chenu etc) attribute to Kosse the authorship of the species epithet meckelii. This is a manifest error, since Kosse did not give specific names to his new molluscs" ... Fischer, 1910 p.351. - [translated from French by W.B.Rudman]
According to Fischer, the first type species designation for Gastropteron was Ferussac, 1822, who introduced the name Gasteropteron coccinea. The first use of Gastroptera meckeli was Blainville, 1825. However in the intervening period, Rafinesque (1814) had described the same species as Sarcopterus ruber which according to Fischer becomes the earliest species name.
My problem is that I do not have access to Kosse, 1813. If that does not include a recognisable description of G. meckeli then Gastropteron rubrum is the name we should use.
Another problem is the spelling of the name. Blainville (1825) uses Gasteroptera and Ferussac (1822) uses Gasteropteron which is the spelling in the Check List of European Marine Mollusca (CLEMAM) and they attribute authorship to Meckel in Kosse, 1813 and give the type species as Gasteropteron meckeli Kosse, 1813.
While checklists are very valuable, they often give no reasons for nomenclatural decisions they are introducing, and don't give references to published decisions they are relying on.
References:
• Blainville, H. M. D. 1825, Manuel de malacologie et de conchyliologie, vii + 647 pp. Leurault, Paris [Atlas of Plates (1-87) published 1827].
• Ferussac, A,. 1822. Tableaux systematiques des animaux mollusques, classes en familles naturelles, dans lesquels ou est etabli la concordance de tous les systemes. Suivis d'un Prodrome General. xlvii + 110pp.
• Fischer, P. 1910. Observations sur la synonymie et l'habitat du Gastropteron rubrum Rafinesque. Journal de Conchyliologie, 30(4): 349-353.
• Kosse, J.F.J., 1813. De Pteropodum ordine et nova ipsius Genera. p10-16, figs 11-14. Thesis: Halle
• Rafinesque, C. S., 1814. Quadro dei generi di Moll. pteropodi dei Signore Peron e Lesueur, dal Signor C. S. Rafinesque Schmaltz. Specchio delle scienze, Giornale Encyclopedico de Sicilia Palermo, 2(11):153-154.
• Rafinesque, C. S., 1814. Precis des decouvertes somiologiques ou zoologiques et botaniques, p. 30. Palermo
It seems this matter will only be resolved if someone can look at a copy of Kosse and see exactly what is written there. Basically, did Kosse actually describe or even use the name G. meckeli in 1813, and how did he spell the name Gastropteron?
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
More photos of Gastropteron rubrum
September 5, 2001
From: H. & J-P. Castillo
Dear Bill,
Thank you for your reply. We never observed it near sponges, always on sand. We have
received two more beautiful photos from Michel Dune.
Best wishes
Hélene et Jean-Pierre Castillo
jpc26@club-internet.fr
Castillo, H. & J-P. , 2001 (Sep 5) More photos of Gastropteron rubrum. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5208Thanks,
Bill Rudman.
Gastropteron rubrum from Mediterranean France
September 4, 2001
From: H. & J-P. Castillo
This animal is from Antibes, French coast of the Mediterranean.
It was photographed by Michel Dune on a sandy bottom at 30-40m in August 2001.
Is it a species of Gastropteron?
Thank you
Hélene et Jean-Pierre Castillo
jpc26@club-internet.fr
Dear Hélène & Jean-Pierre,
Thank you and Michel for sharing these beautiful photos. This is indeed a species of Gastropteron. It is Gastropteron rubrum which is found in the Mediterrean and along the Atlantic coast from southern France to Morocco. It is also reported from the west Atlantic from Florida to Brazil.
Like many species of the Gastropteridae, it is able to swim [see photos of Sagaminoteron ornatum] but its parapodia are much larger, relative to the size of the body, than in Indo-West Pacific species with which I am familiar. To my knowledge, we have no information on what these animals eat. So if this Gastropteron is common where you dive it would be very interesting to see what it is feeding on. Many Pacific species are found on sponges. I am not convinced that they feed on sponges so any clues from the Mediterranean would be very welcome.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
