Dolabrifera dolabrifera (Rang, 1828)
Description
A mid-sized aplysiid reaching about 90 mm in length. Body without an external shell or parapodial wing-flaps. Ground colour highly variable, ranging from brownish cream and reddish brown through green to black; the dorsum carries scattered small tubercles and irregular dark blotches that are darker than the surrounding ground colour. Rhinophores and oral tentacles short, the same colour as the body or slightly paler. Rang noted that "the mantle appears bristled with spines" when the animal is in water — soft pointed expansions that flatten and curve over the body when the animal is removed from water. The internal shell is narrow, elongate, calcareous, white and quadrangular in shape (Rang figured the holotype shell as 9 mm long).Distribution
Circum-Pacific. The type locality is Île Bourbon (now Réunion), in muddy substrate under submerged stones, in small brackish ponds near shore (Rang also recorded other mollusks — two Neritina species and one Pintadina — from the same habitat).Etymology
The specific epithet dolabrifera is a Latin compound of dolabra ("axe, hatchet") and -fer ("bearing"), meaning "axe-bearing", in reference to the form of the internal shell. The name was taken over by Rang from earlier (Cuvier 1817 Règne animal tome II p.308 and Férussac's Tableau systématique) discussions of Dolabella dolabrifera.Remarks
The valid combination is recorded by WoRMS as Dolabrifera dolabrifera (Rang, 1828), with Rang's "Histoire naturelle des Aplysiens" (Paris, Firmin Didot, p.50-51, pl. IV figs. 1-6) treated as the establishing paper. Rang placed the species in his "Aplysia" section 2 (the future genus Dolabrifera, formally erected by Gray, 1847). Rang remarked that the species "differs from Dolabella" enough that he recognised it as a distinct group within his new arrangement.References
- Aplysia dolabrifera, Rang S. (1828). Histoire naturelle des Aplysiens, première famille de l'ordre des tectibranches. Paris, Firmin Didot. iv + 84 pp., 25 pls. Published as part of Férussac's Histoire générale et particulière des mollusques.
- ビワガタナメクジ（新稱）, 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.
- アカチャウミナメクジ（仮称）, 小野篤司. (1999). ウミウシガイドブック. TBSブリタニカ.
- ビワガタナメクジ, 鈴木敬宇. (2000). ウミウシガイドブック〈2〉. TBSブリタニカ.
- ビワガタナメクジ, 小野篤司. (2004). 沖縄のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- ビワガタナメクジ, 中野理枝. (2004). 本州のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- ビワガタナメクジ, 小野篤司 & 加藤昌一. (2009). ウミウシ. 誠文堂新光社.
- Dolabrifera dolabrifera, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
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, Dolabrifera dolabrifera, is included in the book.
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Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.