Bulbaeolidia alba ( Risbec, 1928 )

Tibiriçá, Yara, Pola, Marta & Cervera, Juan Lucas, 2017, Astonishing diversity revealed: an annotated and illustrated inventory of Nudipleura (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) from Mozambique, Zootaxa 4359 (1), pp. 1-133 : 106-107

Bulbaeolidia alba ( Risbec, 1928)

( Figure 33 I –J)

Material examined. Eleven specimens. MB28-004466 & MHN-YT186, ZRP, 0 7 Feb. 2012, 2m, 10mm and 4mm, respectively; MB28-004520, ZRP, 0 9 Mar. 2012, 2m, 3mm; MB28-004522, ZWH, 15 Mar. 2012, 18m, 4mm; MB28-004675, ZJS, 24 May 2013, 12m, 4mm; MB28-004735, ZRP, 0 8 Sep. 2013, 0.5m, 5mm; MB28-004744, ZRP, 0 9 Oct. 2013, 0.5m, 5mm; MB28-004758, 3 spcs. PAQ, 0 3, Dec. 2013, 1 m, 9–12mm; MB28-004934, ZRP, 10 Oct. 2014, 1m, 10mm; MB28-00 4940, ZRP, 26 Oct. 2014, 0.3m, 6mm; MB28-004998, ZRP, 0 6 May 2015, 0.3m, 6mm.

Habitats. Subtropical tidal reefs and on aquaculture nets in the tropics.

Occurrences. Zavora and Pemba.

Geographic distribution. Indo-west, central Pacific. French Polynesia (Boserelle et al. 2013), Hawaii, Midway Atoll (Gosliner et al. 2008), Guam ( Carlson & Hoff 2003), Japan (Nakano 2004), Philippines, Malaysia ( Carmona et al. 2013), New Caledonia ( Risbec 1928), Malasya ( Carmona et al. 2017b), Tanzania, Seychelles (Gosliner et al. 2008), South Africa ( Gosliner 1987) and Mozambique.

Remarks. Two morphotypes were found in Mozambique: (1) cream-white with an orange line surrounding the base of the rhinophores ( Fig. 33 I) and (2) white with an orange dorsal patch posterior to the rhinophores ( Fig. 33 J). Carmona et al. (2017) investigated several morphotypes from the Indo-Pacific with different orange patterns and found that they were variations of B. alba . Nevertheless, they enphasise that they did not have material from East Africa and that further investigation including specimens from this region was needed because peripherical regions such as Mozambique and South Africa are likely to have endemic species for this genus.