Micromelo guamensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825)
- Location
- Pulau Bali, Indonesia
- Date
- 2006/01/02
- Length
- 15mm
- Depth
- 16.0m
- Water temperature
- 28.0℃
Description
A small aplustrid with a thin, ovoid cream-white shell marked by three dark (brown to blue-black) spiral bands, separated by finer wavy vertical lines. The mantle has a distinctive blue marginal line and scattered white spots across the body. Shell length to about 20–30 mm.Outwardly very similar to its Atlantic relative M. undatus, but distinguished as a separate species by molecular analysis.
Distribution
Restricted to the tropical and subtropical western Pacific — Guam (the type locality), Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands, and southern Japan. Historically treated as a synonym of M. undatus, it was reinstated as a valid species by Feliciano et al. 2021.Etymology
The specific epithet guamensis means "of Guam," referring to the type locality. Described by Quoy & Gaimard in 1825 as Bullaea guamensis in the zoological volume of Freycinet's Voyage autour du monde… sur les corvettes de S.M. l'Uranie et la Physicienne (pp. 423, pl. 66, figs 10–12).Remarks
The Japanese name Konshibori-gai ("indigo-shibori shell") was coined for this species complex by Yōichirō Hirase in 1914 and is recorded in the 1928 Catalogue of Molluscs of Amami-ōshima (Kagoshima Educational Research Society) as "Konshibori (Hirase)." Before the 2021 revision, this species was treated as conspecific with the Atlantic M. undatus; early literature does not distinguish the two.Like other Aplustridae, it feeds on cirratulid polychaete worms.
References
- Bullaea guamensis, Quoy J.R.C. & Gaimard J.P. (1824-1826). Zoologie. In: Freycinet L. de (ed.) Voyage autour du monde... sur les corvettes de S.M. l'Uranie et la Physicienne, pendant les années 1817, 1818, 1819 et 1820. Pillet Aîné, Paris. Bullaea guamensis: p. 423, pl. 66, figs 10-12.
- コンシボリ(平瀨), 鹿児島県教育調査会. (1928). 奄美大島産貝類目録.
- コンシボリガイ, 益田一. (1999). 海洋生物ガイドブック. 第2刷. 東海大学出版会.
- コンシボリガイ, 殿塚孝昌. (2003). ウミウシガイドブック〈3〉. TBSブリタニカ.
- コンシボリガイ, 中野理枝. (2004). 本州のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- コンシボリガイ, 小野篤司. (2004). 沖縄のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- Micromelo undatus, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2018). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific 2nd Edition. New World Pubns Inc.
- Micromelo guamensis, Feliciano, K., Malaquias, M.A.E., Stout, C., Brenzinger, B., Gosliner, T.M. & Valdés, Á. (2021). Molecular and morphological analyses reveal pseudocryptic diversity in Micromelo undatus (Bruguière, 1792) (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Aplustridae). Systematics and Biodiversity. DOI: 10.1080/14772000.2021.1939458: 1-25.
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, Micromelo guamensis, 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.