Berghia, CREUTZBERGI MARCUS & MARCUS, 1970

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 : 354-355

BERGHIA CREUTZBERGI MARCUS & MARCUS, 1970

Material examined: Praia de Armação (Buzios, Rio de Janeiro) , 1 July 1999, one specimen, 0-m depth, 13-mm long.

External morphology: The animal is thin and elongated. The body colour is brown with whitish spots on the dorsum and cerata ( Fig. 1E ). Oral tentacles are elongate with translucent brown bases and whitish pigment on the apical portion. The brown rhinophores bear papillae. In the preserved state, a narrow longitudinal fold on the anterior face is present in each rhinophore. The bases of the rhinophores are very close, and have a white spot on the head below them. The cerata are organized in five pairs of horseshoeshaped arches ( Fig. 5A ). The first group contains the largest number of cerata (about 14). The second arch contains ten cerata, and the number diminishes toward the posterior end. The cerata of the posterior groups are stouter than the anterior ones, and have pointed tips. The genital opening is located on the right side, in front of the first arch of cerata. The anus is situated inside the second arch. The whitish foot ends in a thin and translucent tail.

Internal morphology: The radular formula is 18 ¥ 0. 1. 0. The arched teeth posses numerous denticles ( Fig. 5B ). One large tooth has 35 denticles on each side. The central denticle is smaller, and on its sides larger and a smaller denticles are arranged alternately ( Fig. 3E ). The jaws are each 820-Mm long, and are nearly transparent–yellowish. The masticatory border is smooth ( Fig. 3F ).

Remarks: Our specimen coincides with that described by Marcus & Marcus (1970), in coloration, ceratal arrangement, and radula.

The species Millereolidia ritmica (Ortea, Caballer & Espinosa, 2003) from Costa Rica has similar teeth to those of B. creutzbergi , with alternating large and small denticles. Both species have brown body colour with whitish spots on the dorsum, the rhinophores bear papillae, and most of the cerata are organized in five pairs of horseshoe-shape arches. However M. ritmica differs from B. creutzbergi : it has an extremely thin and long tail, the papillae of the rhinophores are arranged in rings, the first ceratal group forms a triangle, and the masticatory border is denticulate.

Distribution: Curaçao ( Marcus & Marcus, 1970); Barbados ( Edmunds & Just, 1983); Cayman Island ( Hess et al., 1994); Bahamas ( Redfern, 2001).

Brazil: This is the first record of this species from Brazil (Praia de Armação, Buzios, Rio de Janeiro).

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 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.

Figure 5. Berghia creutzbergi. A, lateral view of a specimen, showing the arrangement of the cerata; scale bar = 1 mm. B, radular tooth (13-mm-long specimen, from Praia de Armação); scale bar = 100 Mm.