Corolla spectabilis Dall, 1871

Description

A large pelagic shelled pteropod, total length (including pseudoconch) reaching 40-70 mm. The animal is fully adapted to planktonic life, with the soft body held inside a transparent, gelatinous, slipper-shaped pseudoconch. The pseudoconch is bilaterally symmetrical and fan- to tongue-shaped. Large lateral wings extend from the body and are flapped to swim. Feeding is by mucous-net suspension feeding, capturing phytoplankton and organic particles.

Distribution

Type locality: the south-eastern coast of North America and the North Pacific Ocean. The species is widely distributed in temperate to tropical waters of both hemispheres and is recorded from Japanese waters.

Etymology

The specific epithet spectabilis is Latin for "remarkable" or "showy", evoking the large transparent pseudoconch and the elegant flapping wings.

Remarks

A pseudothecosomate pteropod, a fully holoplanktonic group of gastropods. Cymbuliopsis vitrea Heath & Spaulding, 1901 is treated as a junior synonym.

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References

• Corolla spectabilis n. sp., Dall W.H. (1871). Descriptions of sixty new forms of mollusks from the west coast of North America and the North Pacific Ocean, with notes on others already described. American Journal of Conchology, 7: 93-160.
• Corolla spectabilis, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
• ウチワカンテンカメガイ Corolla spectabilis Dall, 1871, 奥谷喬司. (2016). わが国近海に見られる浮遊性巻貝類―VI. 有殻翼足類・ミジンウキマイマイ科及び擬有殻翼足類. うみうし通信, 93, 4–5.
• ウチワカンテンカメガイ, 中野理枝. (2018). 日本のウミウシ. 文一総合出版.