Cyerce kikutarobabai Hamatani, 1976

Location: Horse Shoes, Okinawa Island (Onna and Yomitan area), Okinawa, Japan
Date: 2010/03/24
Length: 8mm
Depth: 5.0m
Water temperature: 23.0℃

Description

A small sacoglossan, about 9 mm in total length and 1.5 mm in breadth when fully expanded, limaciform and somewhat flattened. Seven dorso-lateral papillae of varying size are arranged in a single row on each side of the body; the papillae are flattened, broadly ovate to round, with both surfaces slightly inflated and entirely smooth margins. The rhinophores are long, auriculate, bifid in the distal half, and grooved along their whole length. The oral tentacles are rather long, with both edges rolled up to form a cylindrical shape. The eyes lie close together at the base of the rhinophores and are large enough to be visible through the cutaneous layer. The foot is broader than the body, with rounded corners; the posterior third of the sole is clearly separated from the anterior portion.

Coloration

Ground colour faintly yellowish-white. The cephalic region (excluding the area around the eyes), the rhinophores, and the oral tentacles are reddish-purple. The back appears dimly greyish-green as the viscera show through the body wall. The dorso-lateral papillae are reddish-purple (deeper distally and fading toward the base) and are diagnostically margined with a yellowish-orange band, with several large round patches of the same colour irregularly placed on both surfaces. The pericardial region is covered with numerous milky white spots. The mouth opening is small and roundish; each side of the mouth-lip bears a characteristic minute arch of reddish-brown pigment.

Distribution

Type locality: Yoron Island (27°1'N, 128°24'E), Amami Islands, Japan, on a reef of Acropora overgrown by Caulerpa racemosa, 1 April 1975.

Etymology

The original description (Hamatani, 1976) states: "This new species is here named after the author's teacher, Dr. Kikutaro Baba, as it was dedicated to him in celebration of his 70th birthday, July 11 of 1975." Among the dozen-plus species dedicated to Baba worldwide, this is one of very few in which both the given name (kikutaro) and surname (babai) are combined into a single species epithet — reflecting both the teacher–student relationship between Hamatani and Baba and the special occasion of a 70th-birthday tribute.

Remarks

In the family Caliphyllidae (Sacoglossa). Resembles the Mediterranean Cyerce jheringi Swennen, 1892 (a junior synonym of C. cristallina (Trinchese, 1881)) in body coloration, but distinguished by the foliaceous, round, smooth-margined papillae, the yellowish-orange margins, and the large patches of the same colour on both surfaces of the papillae. The author of this species, Iwao Hamatani, also edited the obituary paper of Baba published in Venus 61(1–2):97–110 in 2002 — making the original 1976 dedication and the 2002 obituary a 26-year arc of the teacher–student relationship.

Photographed by 今川郁

Description

Coloration

Distribution

Etymology

Remarks

References

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Seasonality

Shooting Locations

Photos of Cyerce kikutarobabai

Same Genus Nudibranchs

Similar Colors Nudibranchs

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