Hermaea cantabra Caballer and Ortea, 2015

Salvador, Xavier, Fernández-Vilert, Robert & Moles, Juan, 2022, Sea slug night fever: 39 new records of elusive heterobranchs in the western Mediterranean (Mollusca: Gastropoda), Journal of Natural History 56 (5 - 8), pp. 265-310 : 297-298

Hermaea cantabra Caballer and Ortea, 2015

( Figure 6 (b))

Material examined

Es Caials , Cadaqués ( Spain), 42°17 ʹ 5.1”N, 3°17 ʹ 50”E, 20 February 2010 10 m depth, 2 spcs, adults, H = 6–10 mm; Tamariu beach ( Spain), 41°55 ʹ 0.5”N, 3°12 ʹ 27.1”E, 11 February 2019, 5 m depth, 1 spc., adult, L = 5 mm.

External morphology

Body elongate, narrow, background colour semi-transparent, with two lateral and two dorsal red narrow lines close to eyes, little visible at the end of body. Cerata globular, semi-transparent, with red digestive gland seen by transparency running towards apex, external white punctuations scattered throughout but most concentrated into two tubercles before each ceras top. Rhinophores beige in apical part, with a central red line and white coloured scattered dots.

Ecology

The specimen was found in a red filamentous alga sample at superficial depths. Distribution

North Spanish coast ( Caballer and Ortea 2015); Catalonia (GROC 2009–2021; this study).

Remarks

This species is distinguished from H. bifida by the presence of red lines that run from the rhinophores, passing between the eyes, to the dorsum, the absence of oral appendages (present in H. bifida ), and a less ramified digestive gland ( Caballer and Ortea 2015). The species description of H. cantabra was only established in 2015, and thus some previous records of H. bifida in the Iberian Peninsula could be misidentifications (e.g. Salvat 1968; Ortea 1977).

Figures

Figure 6. Photographs of live Sacoglossa species: (a) Hermaea bifida and close-up on its egg mass at the base of an alga. (b) Hermaea cantabra. (c) Hermaea paucicirra. (d) Limapontia capitata on Ulva lactuca. (e) Placida tardyi. (f) Placida viridis. (g) Elysia flava. Siphonariidae: (h) Williamia gussoni.