Berthella caledonica (Risbec, 1928)

Description

A small pleurobranchid. Risbec 1928 described three 50-mm-long animals collected from beneath dead coral blocks at Nouméa, New Caledonia. The absence of denticles on the radular teeth and the absence of an anterior mantle notch better fit Berthella than Pleurobranchus.

Distribution

New Caledonia (type locality: Nouméa), Australia (southern Queensland), Okinawa, Marshall Islands, Hawaii.

Etymology

Latin caledonica, "of New Caledonia," a toponym referring to the type locality.

Remarks

Originally described as Pleurobranchus caledonicus Risbec, 1928, and later transferred to Berthella on the basis of denticle and mantle morphology. The species went unrecorded for decades after Risbec's original collection, until Gary Cobb rediscovered it in southern Queensland.

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References

• ヒノマルフシエラガイ（仮称）, 小野篤司. (1999). ウミウシガイドブック. TBSブリタニカ.
• ヒノマルフシエラガイ（新称）, 小野篤司. (2000). ウミウシガイドブック. 第2版. TBSブリタニカ.
• ヒノマルフシエラガイ, 小野篤司. (2004). 沖縄のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
• Berthella sp. 1, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
• ヒノマルフシエラガイ, 小野篤司 & 加藤昌一. (2020). 新版 ウミウシ. 誠文堂新光社.