Costasiella fridae Fernández-Simón & Moles, 2023
- Location
- Yaene, Hachijo Island, Tokyo, Japan
- Date
- 2018/06/28
- Length
- 3mm
- Depth
- 10.0m
- Water temperature
- 26.0℃
Description
Body translucent white. The dorsum carries green cerata: those along the midline are paler/whitish, while the lateral cerata are greener. The cerata contain scattered iridescent dots in white, blue, and yellow — most conspicuous on the larger cerata — with whitish tips. The rhinophores are cylindrical, becoming bulbous when disturbed, and are opaque white in the upper two thirds. A distinctive oval black band runs behind the eyes — the most diagnostic feature of this species — and there is a white blotch on the snout. A small species, around 3 mm in length.Distribution
Type locality is Beyrufushi, Faafu Atoll, Maldives, at 6 m depth. Records exist from across the tropical Indo-Pacific, including South Africa, the Maldives, Indonesia, Japan, Guam, and Hawaii.Etymology
The specific epithet fridae honors the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954). The distinctive oval black band behind the eyes of this species evokes her iconic connected eyebrows.Remarks
A member of the family Costasiellidae. A sacoglossan ("sap-sucking") sea slug that feeds on the green alga Avrainvillea, sequestering functional chloroplasts and retaining them for photosynthesis (kleptoplasty). The two type specimens were observed laying eggs on Avrainvillea sp.Similar-looking animals from Japanese waters have historically been identified as Costasiella iridophora Ichikawa, 1993, but the molecular phylogeny in Cunha et al. 2023 found C. fridae to be an independent lineage that does not cluster with any other sequenced Costasiella; even the externally similar Costasiella sp. 2 (cf. kuroshimae) and Costasiella sp. 1 are genetically very distant (COI similarity around 79%).
References
- ネオンモウミウシ（仮称）, 小野篤司. (1999). ウミウシガイドブック. TBSブリタニカ.
- ネオンモウミウシ（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.
- Costasiella sp. 1, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
- Costasiella fridae n. sp., Cunha T.J., Fernández-Simón J., Petrula M., Giribet G. & Moles J. (2023). Photographic Checklist, DNA Barcoding, and New Species of Sea Slugs and Snails from the Faafu Atoll, Maldives (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia and Vetigastropoda). Diversity. 15(2): 219. https://doi.org/10.3390/d15020219
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, Costasiella fridae, is included in the book.
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Photos of Costasiella fridae
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.