Berthellina delicata (Pease, 1861)
- Location
- Mini Dream Hole, Okinawa Island (Onna and Yomitan area), Okinawa, Japan
- Date
- Length
- 20mm
- Depth
- 8.0m
- Water temperature
- 24.0℃
Description
A small pleurobranch reaching about 25 mm in body length. The animal is small, delicate, subpellucid, uniformly orange-yellow throughout in life, with the viscera imparting a dark shade to the dorsal region. The mantle is smooth, oblong-oval, truncate in front, rounded behind, convex along the dorsal region. The foot is elongate-oval, rounded at both ends, entirely concealed by the mantle. The shell is small, elongate-oval, with a sub-spiral nucleus and distinct lines of growth, of a pale horn-colour tinged with violet, subpellucid. Pease's type was based on Pacific Islands material.Distribution
Indo-Pacific. Type locality: Society Islands and other warm-water localities of the central Pacific, based on a specimen collected by Andrew Garrett and described by Pease. Subsequently recorded widely across the Indo-Pacific, although Berthellina species show considerable external variability and have at times been treated as separate species. In Japan the species occurs from central Honshu southward.Etymology
The specific epithet delicata is the feminine of Latin delicatus ("delicate, dainty, refined"), in reference to the small, delicate body. Pease did not state an etymology, but the meaning is consistent with his opening words "Animal small, delicate, subpellucid".Remarks
Originally placed by Pease in Pleurobranchus. Later transferred to Berthellina; the parentheses in the author citation reflect this generic transfer. The Japanese name "ホオズキフシエラガイ" ("Chinese-lantern-plant pleurobranch") refers to the orange-yellow to red body colour evoking the fruit of the Chinese lantern plant (hoozuki).References
- Pleurobranchus delicatus Pease n. sp., Pease W.H. (1861). Descriptions of new species of Mollusca from the Pacific Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1861: 242-247.
- ほおづきふしえらがひ（新稱）, 内田清之助ほか. (1927). 日本動物圖鑑. 北隆館.
- ホウズキフシエラガイ, Baba K. (1949). Opisthobranchia of Sagami Bay collected by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan (相模湾産後鰓類図譜). Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo. 4+2+194+7 pp., pls. 1-50.
- ホウズキフシエラガイ, 小野篤司. (2000). ウミウシガイドブック. 第2版. TBSブリタニカ.
- ホウズキフシエラガイ, 奥谷喬司. (2000). 日本近海産貝類図鑑. 東海大学出版会.
- 高岡生物研究会. (2002). 日本海のウミウシ. 第2版.
- Berthellina citrina (Rüppell & Leuckart, 1828), 殿塚孝昌. (2003). ウミウシガイドブック〈3〉. TBSブリタニカ.
- ホウズキフシエラガイ, 中野理枝. (2004). 本州のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- ホウズキフシエラガイ, 小野篤司. (2004). 沖縄のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- Berthellina delicata, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
- Berthellina delicata, Moustafa A.Y., Golestani H. & Valdés Á. (2018). A review of the genus Berthellina (Mollusca: Heterobranchia: Pleurobranchidae) in the Red Sea based on molecular and anatomical data. Marine Biodiversity. 48(2): 1121-1134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-016-0558-2
- ホウズキフシエラガイ, 中野理枝. (2018). 日本のウミウシ. 文一総合出版.
- ホウズキフシエラガイ, 小野篤司 & 加藤昌一. (2020). 新版 ウミウシ. 誠文堂新光社.
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, Berthellina delicata, is included in the book.
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Tag:
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.