Spurilla sp. 2

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Aeolidiidae

DISTRIBUTION

Caribbean

PHOTO

Upper: St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, West Indies. Photo: R. Gundersen. Lower: on Thalassia blade in 1m 10mm long alive. Whale Cay, Abaco, Bahamas on June 26, 1995. [Bahamian Seashells: pl. 121, fig. 746A] Photo: Colin Redfern

Brownish background colour with whitish spots. Rhinophores lamellate, not papillate.

I suspect some of the white spotted animals from the Caribbean which have been tentatively identified on the Forum as Spurilla neapolitana [see messages from Colombia - message 1, message 2] may be Spurilla creutzbergi but I can't see enough detail in their rhinophores. Some, such as David Behrens animal from Belize, cannot be this species because the rhinophores are clearly ridged transversely.

Clearly this is another Caribbean group that could do with some anatomical work.

References:
• Marcus, E, & Marcus, E. (1970) Opisthobranchs from Curacao and faunistically related regions. Studies on the Fauna of Curacao and other Caribbean Islands, 33: 1-129.
• Redfern. C., 2001. Bahamian Seashells: a Thousand Species from Abaco, Bahamas.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2003 (October 21) Spurilla sp. 2 [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/spursp2

Related messages

  1. Spurilla sp. from the Bahamas
    From: Colin Redfern, October 22, 2003
  2. Spurilla creutzbergi? from Jamaica
    From: Ross W. Gundersen, October 21, 2003

Show factsheet and all related messages