Aegires petalis Fahey & Gosliner, 2004
- Location
- Horse Shoes, Okinawa Island (Onna and Yomitan area), Okinawa, Japan
- Date
- 2018/04/02
- Length
- 7mm
- Depth
- 18.0m
- Water temperature
- 22.0℃
Description
A tiny aegirid about 5 mm long. The body is elongate with a high dorsum. Flat-topped raised tubercles are arranged in two lines along the anterior half of the dorsum; on the posterior half, the largest tubercles are arranged in a diamond pattern, with additional large flat-topped tubercles lining the edge of the dorsum. Long spicules protrude from the tops of all tubercles. The rhinophore pocket is tall and cylindrical with a petal-like outer edge; the rhinophores themselves are smooth. The gill pocket lies mid-dorsally and is protected by three flat-topped appendages, with small tripinnate gill leaves. Body and all appendages are white.Distribution
Described from Anemone Reef, Madang, Papua New Guinea. Subsequently recorded from Japan.Etymology
Verbatim from the original description:The specific name petalis is taken from the Greek word petalon meaning a leaf or petal. This is in reference to the rhinophore sheaths of this new species.
Remarks
Described as one of eight new species in a phylogenetic revision of the Aegiridae. The authors stated that A. petalis most closely resembles Aegires ortizi, but is distinguished by the elevated rhinophore margins, the shape of the tubercle tops, and by penial morphology — the penis of A. petalis is short and thick, whereas that of A. ortizi is "very long and wide". Like other aegirids, it is presumed to feed on sponges.References
- Aegires petalis, Lovén S. (1844). Om nordiska hafs-mollusker. Öfversigt af Kongliga Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar, Stockholm. 1(3): 48-53.
- Aegires petalis, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
- アミメセンヒメウミウシ（新称）, 中野理枝. (2018). 日本のウミウシ. 文一総合出版.
Featured in this book
Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2018). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific 2nd Edition. New World Pubns Inc.
New World Publications
This species, Aegires petalis, is included in the book.
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Photos of Aegires petalis
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.