| Halgerda carlsoni | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
| Order: | Nudibranchia |
| Suborder: | Doridina |
| Superfamily: | Doridoidea |
| Family: | Discodorididae |
| Genus: | Halgerda |
| Species: | H. carlsoni
|
| Binomial name | |
| Halgerda carlsoni | |
Halgerda carlsoni is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, shell-less marine gastropod mollusks in the family Discodorididae. [2]
Description
This animal is one of a group of mainly white species of Halgerda with orange markings. This species can be more than 50 mm (2.0 in) in length. Its body is massive, stocky and the mantle overhangs the narrow foot. The body is covered with tubercles of various sizes whose top is orange to red with a white rim at the base. The background body colour is translucent white with dense punctuation of very small red-orange dots. The mantle edge is trimmed with small tubercles tipped with orange to red dots. Rhinophores and gills are retractable, translucent and speckled with dark spots. [3] Animals from East Africa differ in having lines or more continuous brown pigment on the rhinophores and gills instead of spots and are considered to be a distinct species by some authorities. [4]
Distribution
This species was described from Suva Harbour, Fiji. It has subsequently been reported from New Caledonia, Tonga, Sulawesi, the Philippines, Malaysia, Tanzania, Madagascar and South Africa. [3]
References
- ^ Rudman W. B. (1978). "The dorid opisthobranch genera Halgerda and Sclerodoris Eliot from the Indo-West Pacific". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 62: 59-88.
- ^ Dayrat B. 2010. A monographic revision of discodorid sea slugs (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia, Nudibranchia, Doridina). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Series 4, vol. 61, suppl. I, 1-403, 382 figs.
- ^ a b Rudman, W.B., 1999 (February 4) Halgerda carlsoni Rudman, 1978. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
- ^ Gosliner, T.M., Behrens, D.W. & Valdés, Á., 2018. Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification - Indo-Pacific. New World Publications; 2nd Revised, Updated edition. 452 pp. ISBN 978-1878348678, p. 111.