Berthella nebula Ghanimi, Schrödl, Goddard, Ballesteros, Gosliner & Valdés, 2020

Delgado, Marlon, Freire, Fúlvio Aurélio de Morais, Meirelles, Carlos Augusto Oliveira de, Padula, Vinicius, Bahia, Juliana & Brandão, Simone Nunes, 2022, Sea slugs (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) from Rio Grande do Norte, Northeastern Brazil, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 62, pp. 1-26 : 12

18. Berthella nebula Ghanimi, Schrödl, Goddard, Ballesteros, Gosliner & Valdés, 2020 ( Fig. 3C )

Material examined: Praia de Santa Rita, Extremoz, 26.IV.2009, one specimen, 10 mm (body length), leg. M. Delgado ( GEEFAA 273), 04.I.2014, one specimen, 5 mm (body length), leg. M. Delgado ( GEEFAA 343). Praia de Pitangui, Extremoz, 12.I.2019, one specimen, 7 mm (body length), leg. M. Delgado ( GEEFAA 1307), 20.I.2019, one specimen, 8 mm (body length), leg. M. Delgado ( GEEFAA 1308).

Description: Elongate oval body, 5-10 mm body length. Mantle broad and smooth covering the foot. Dorsum translucent white or grayish, with numerous small white opaque spots and irregular edges. In the middle of the notum there is one transversal, white, opaque bar with variably shaped pattern resembling a "T″,"Y″ or "√″ symbol. Large oral veil, trapezoidal, translucent-white with some small white or grayish opaque spots on near anterior and side margins. One pair of retractile, lobulated, arcuated rhinophores. Mid-dorsal area covered by the smooth notum, light brown coloration, protected by the inner shell. Gills on right side of the body, located between the inferior part of the mantle and the superior part of the foot. Inner shell, oval, covering part of body, translucent light brown or honey-colored.

Geographic distribution: Western Atlantic: Martinique, Jamaica, Caribbean coast of Mexico, Puerto Rico, Caribbean coast of Panama, Brazil (Rio Grande do Norte – present study) ( Marcus & Marcus, 1970; Gosliner & Bertsch, 1988; Ghanimi et al., 2020).

Remarks: Specimens found were initially identified as Berthella stellata (Risso, 1826) , a previously circumtropical species ( Valdés et al., 2006). Alvim & Pimenta (2015) presented a discussion on morphological differences of Brazilian specimens of B. stellata when compared to specimens from other regions. Despite of the differences, they maintained the name B.stellata for the morphotypes of the Brazilian coast. Ghanimi et al. (2020) conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses to better understand the taxonomy of the B.stellata species complex based on specimens collected in different oceans. These authors concluded that B. stellata did not occur in the Western Atlantic. In fact, western Atlantic ‘B. stellata′ corresponded to two species: Berthella nebula and Berthella vialactea Ghanimi, Schrödl, Goddard, Ballesteros, Gosliner & Valdés, 2020 . Both were herein recorded from Rio Grande do Norte.

Figures

Figure 3. Heterobranchsea slugsfrom Rio Grandedo Norte.(A) Phyllaplysiaengeli (6mm – GEEFAA342);(B)Berthela agassizii(11mm –MZSP 97047);(C) Berthella nebula (7 mm– GEEFAA 1307);(D)Berthella vialactea(14mm – GEEFAA 304);(E) Berthellinaignis (10 mm– GEEFAA 335);(F) Cadlina rumia(10mm – GEEFAA311); (G) Felimida clenchi (9 mm – MZSP 97070); (H) Felimare sp. (13 mm – GEEFAA 313); (I) Tyrinna evelinae (18 mm – GEEFAA 1305); (J) Diaulula greeleyi (20 mm – GEEFAA 259a); (K) Discodoris branneri (70 mm – MZSP 97063); (L) Geitodoris pusae (14 mm – GEEFAA 338); (M.1) Sclerodoris prea (33 mm – GEEFAA 1314); (M.2) Sclerodoris prea (35 mm – GEEFAA1314); (N) Taringa iemanja (25 mm – MZSP 97062);(O) Taringa telopia (18 mm – MZSP 97071).