Pleurobranchus forskalii Rüppell & Leuckart, 1828
- Location
- Cape Maeda, Okinawa Island (Onna and Yomitan area), Okinawa, Japan
- Date
- 2014/06/23
- Length
- 50mm
- Depth
- 5.0m
- Water temperature
- 27.0℃
Description
A large pleurobranch reaching about 300 mm in length, the largest member of its genus. Body colour ranges from reddish purple to pale chestnut. In larger animals the dorsum bears a tortoiseshell-like reticulated pattern — white in purple individuals and dark brown in chestnut ones — that the animal can flash on and off. Juveniles are more uniformly yellowish, with the reticulated areas raised into low tubercles. The rhinophores are short and match the body colour, and the posterior mantle margin is upturned. Nocturnal, sheltering under rocks or buried in sand by day.Distribution
Indian Ocean and western Pacific. Records include Tanzania, the Red Sea, Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Guam and Japan. The type locality is Massawa, on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea.Etymology
The specific epithet forskalii refers to Peter Forsskål (1732–1763), whose posthumous Icones rerum naturalium (Havniae, 1776, Tab. XXVIII.A) gave the first published illustration of this animal under the unbinominal name "Lepus marinus".Remarks
Originally described by Rüppell & Leuckart (Atlas zu der Reise im nördlichen Afrika, Wirbellose Thiere, p. 18, 1828) from a single specimen collected at Massawa in January, on coral. They noted it as the largest pleurobranch then known, reaching 5–6 Zoll (about 13–15 cm) alive and contracting to 3–3½ Zoll (8–9 cm) in spirit. Pleurobranchus semperi Vayssière, 1896, under which the Japanese vernacular ゼニガタフシエラガイ was originally proposed in 1971, is now treated as a junior synonym.References
- Pleurobranchus Forskalii, Rüppell E. & Leuckart F.S. (1828-1830). Atlas zu der Reise im nördlichen Afrika von Eduard Rüppell. Erste Abtheilung. Zoologie, Neue wirbellose Thiere des Rothen Meers. Frankfurt am Main: H.L. Brönner. iv + 47 pp., 12 pls.
- ゼニガタフシエラガイ,アワダチフシエラガイ（仮称）, 小野篤司. (1999). ウミウシガイドブック. 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.
- プレウロブランクス・フォルスカリ, 殿塚孝昌. (2003). ウミウシガイドブック〈3〉. TBSブリタニカ.
- ゼニガタフシエラガイ, 小野篤司. (2004). 沖縄のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- ゼニガタフシエラガイ, 中野理枝. (2004). 本州のウミウシ. ラトルズ.
- Pleurobranchus forskalii, 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, Pleurobranchus forskalii, is included in the book.
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Photos of Pleurobranchus forskalii
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.