Elysia marginata (Pease, 1871)
Description
A medium-sized sacoglossan reaching about 6 cm in body length. The ground colour in life is olivaceous green, gradually becoming greenish white beneath. The dorsum and parapodia are dotted somewhat remotely with black and opaque white spots. When spread out the parapodia are oblong-cordate with somewhat waved margins, and are bordered with a triple band of orange, white and black. The tentacles bear a tinge of orange at the tips, each with an elongate white spot. The inner surface of the parapodia is the same colour as the outer side but paler and with fewer spots. The tentacles are stout, ear-shaped and somewhat involute.Distribution
Widespread in the tropical and subtropical western to central Pacific. Type locality: Huahine, Society Islands. Subsequently recorded from the Hawaiian Islands, southern Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia and many other Indo-West Pacific localities.Etymology
The specific epithet marginatus is the Latin adjective meaning "margined, bordered", in reference to the conspicuous triple orange/white/black border along the parapodial margins.Remarks
Type species of Pterogasteron Pease, 1860 (now a junior synonym of Elysia). One of the commonest "leaf slugs" across intertidal green algae throughout the Indo-West Pacific.References
- Pterogasteron marginatus n. sp., Pease W.H. (1871). Descriptions of nudibranchiate Mollusca inhabiting Polynesia. American Journal of Conchology, 6(4): 299-305, pls. XIX-XXII.
- Elysia marginata (Pease), Allan J.K. (1947). Nudibranchia from the Clarence River Heads, north coast, New South Wales. Records of the Australian Museum, 21(8): 433-463, pls. xli-xliii and map. https://doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.21.1947.561
- Elysia (Elysia) grandifolia KELAART, var. orientalis BABA, n.n. =Elysia grandifolia BABA, 1937 Konoha-midorigai, Baba K. (1957). THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS ELYSIA FROM JAPAN. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory. 6(1): 69-74. https://doi.org/10.5134/174573
- コノハミドリガイ, ヒメコノハミドリガイ, 高岡高等学校生物研究会(編). (1964). 富山湾産後鰓類図譜.
- コノハミドリガイ, 小野篤司. (1999). ウミウシガイドブック. TBSブリタニカ.
- コノハミドリガイ, 鈴木敬宇. (2000). ウミウシガイドブック〈2〉. TBSブリタニカ.
- 高岡生物研究会. (2002). 日本海のウミウシ. 第2版.
- コノハミドリガイ, 殿塚孝昌. (2003). ウミウシガイドブック〈3〉. TBSブリタニカ.
- コノハミドリガイ, 中野理枝. (2004). 本州のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- コノハミドリガイ, 小野篤司. (2004). 沖縄のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- コノハミドリガイ, 小野篤司 & 加藤昌一. (2009). ウミウシ. 誠文堂新光社.
- Elysia marginata, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
- KRUG P.J., VENDETTI J.E. & VALDÉS Á. (2016). Molecular and morphological systematics of Elysia Risso, 1818 (Heterobranchia: Sacoglossa) from the Caribbean region. Zootaxa. 4148(1). https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4148.1.1
- Elysia marginata, Mitoh S. & Yusa Y. (2021). Extreme autotomy and whole-body regeneration in photosynthetic sea slugs. Current Biology. 31(5): R233-R234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.014
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, Elysia marginata, 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.