Anteaeolidiella indica, (Bergh, 1888)

Domínguez, Marta, Troncoso, Jesús S. & García, Francisco J., 2008, The family Aeolidiidae Gray, 1827 (Gastropoda Opisthobranchia) from Brazil, with a description of a new species belonging to the genus Berghia Trinchese, 1877, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 153 (2), pp. 349-368 : 350-352

ANTEAEOLIDIELLA INDICA (BERGH, 1888)

Aeolidiella indica Bergh, 1888a: 755 , pl. 78, figs 1, 2.

Aeolidiella orientalis Bergh, 1888b: 673 , pl. 16, figs 8– 13.

Aeolidiella saldanhensis Barnard, 1927: 201 , figs 2, 3.

Aeolidiella hulli Risbec, 1928: 262 , fig. 88, pl. 10, fig. 7, pl. 12, fig. 4.

Aeolidiella takanosimensis Baba, 1930: 122 , fig. 4a–b, pl. 4, fig. 5a–c.

Aeolidiella multicolor Macnae, 1954: 36 , figs 27–29, pl. 2, fig. 4.

Aeolidiella lurana Marcus & Marcus, 1967: 115 , figs 149, 150.

Material examined: Praia dos Ossos (Buzios, Rio de Janeiro), 21 March 1998, four specimens, 0-m depth, 5.5–10.5-mm long. Praia dos Ossos (Buzios, Rio de Janeiro), 26 March 1998, two specimens, 0-m depth, 4–5-mm long. Praia dos Ossos (Buzios, Rio de Janeiro), 24 June 2000, one specimen, 0-m depth, 8-mm long. Praia dos Ossos (Buzios, Rio de Janeiro), 24 July 2003, one specimen, 1-m depth, 10-mm long.

External morphology: The general colour is whitish. The oral tentacles are long and thin ( Fig. 1A ), with a slight pale orange tinge on the external side. The smooth rhinophores are smaller than the oral tentacles, and are pale orange with a whitish tip. The preserved specimens have rhinophores and oral tentacles that are perfoliated or wrinkled, but this is a result of the fixation. There is an orange line on each side of the head, and another line between the rhinophores and the oral tentacles. Behind the rhinophores, the black eyes are visible through the skin and there is an orange line between them. There are two orange zigzag stripes along the body following the limits of the ceratal clusters. These stripes meet where the ceratal clusters of the two sides are closest medially. Opaque white rhomboidal spots are present mid-dorsally, and are flanked by the orange stripes. The cerata are pale orange, with a brown digestive gland and a white ring towards the white tip. The anteriormost clusters consist of rows of two or three cerata. The remaining clusters consist of about five cerata forming an arch and, next to this, a row of three or four cerata. The genital opening is situated in the right side, beneath the first group of cerata, and the anus is located behind it. The foot is white and translucent.

Internal morphology: The radula is uniseriated. One specimen measuring 10-mm long when alive possesses a row of 14 teeth. Each tooth is bilobed with a median cusp ( Figs 2 , 3A ). The smallest tooth is 40-Mm wide, and bears up to 11–12 denticles on each side ( Fig. 2C ). The largest teeth are about 95-Mm wide and bear up to 19 denticles on each side ( Fig. 2A ). The border of the masticatory process of the jaws is smooth ( Fig. 3B ).

Remarks: This species has a very distinctive dorsal pattern, but has variation in the coloration between specimens. For this reason, numerous animals have been misidentified. For example, Marcus & Marcus (1967) described this species (cited as Aeolidiella lurana ) as a bluish white species, with pink colour on both sides of the head and pink oral tentacles. On both sides of the body, on the central part of the head, and towards the tips of the rhinophores, there is yellow pigmentation. Marcus & Marcus (1970) found another specimen in Puerto Rico with different coloration from that of the Brazilian animal described previously in Marcus & Marcus (1967). Our specimens are transparent, with orange patches on the top of the head and behind the rhinophores. There are two dorsal orange stripes, and the rhinophores have orange bases. Although some differences exist between both specimens, they have similar coloration on the cerata, similar dorsal patterns, and similar shapes of teeth.

According to Valdés (2005) this species has similar anatomical characteristics as those of Aeolidiella stephanieae ( Valdés, 2005) , but they do have external differences such as coloration. Furthermore, internal differences also exist, such as the masticatory border of the jaws which in A. stephanieae , which has several irregular denticles.

Distribution: Mauritius ( Bergh, 1888a); Noordwachter Island ( Bergh, 1888b); Japan ( Baba, 1930, 1949, 1979); Red Sea ( Eliot, 1908); Tanzania ( Edmunds, 1969); New Caledonia ( Risbec, 1928); Naples ( Schmekel, 1970); California, San Diego ( Sphon, 1971); Mexico ( Ferreira & Bertsch, 1975); Curaçao, Puerto Rico, Laurel Reef ( Marcus & Marcus, 1970); Hawaii ( Gosliner, 1980); South African ( Gosliner & Griffiths, 1981); New Zealand ( Miller, 2001).

Brazil: Bahia de Santos, Urubuqueçaba Island, São Paulo ( Marcus & Marcus, 1967); Praia dos Ossos (Buzios, Rio de Janeiro) (present paper).

Figures

Figure 1. Living animals. A, Anteaeolidiella indica from Praia dos Ossos. B, Berghia benteva from Praia de Armação (10-mm-long specimen). C, D, Berghia benteva from Praia dos Ossos (18- and 19-mm-long specimens). E, Berghia creutzbergi from Praia de Armação (13-mm-long specimen). F, Berghia marcusi sp. nov., from Praia de Armação (dorsal view, 12-mm-long specimen). G, Berghia marcusi sp. nov. (ventral view of the same specimen). H–J, Spurilla neapolitana from Praia de Armação. K, Spurilla neapolitana from Praia dos Ossos.

Figure 2. Anteaeolidiella indica from Praia dos Ossos (10-mm-long specimen). A, the largest radular tooth. B, one median tooth. C, the smallest tooth. Scale bars = 10 Mm.

Figure 3. SEM images of radulae and jaws. A, radula of Anteaeolidiella indica from Praia dos Ossos; scale bar = 10 Mm. B, jaw of A. indica; scale bar = 100 Mm. C, radula of Berghia benteva from Praia dos Ossos (18-mm-long specimen); scale bar = 50 Mm. D, central part of the tooth of B. benteva; scale bar = 10 Mm. E, detail of the tooth of Berghia creutzbergi from Praia de Armação (13-mm-long specimen); scale bar = 10 Mm. F, jaw of B. creutzbergi (13-mm-long specimen); scale bar = 200 Mm.