Halgerda punctata

Halgerda punctata is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, shell-less marine gastropod mollusks in the family Discodorididae.

Halgerda punctata
The nudibranch Halgerda punctata, Unawatuna, Sri Lanka.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Nudibranchia
Suborder: Doridina
Superfamily: Doridoidea
Family: Discodorididae
Genus: Halgerda
Species:
H. punctata
Binomial name
Halgerda punctata
Farran, 1902[1]

Distribution

This species was described from Sri Lanka. It is also reported from elsewhere in the eastern Indian Ocean on the coasts of Thailand and Myanmar.[2] It was erroneously reported from the African coast.[3]

Description

The body of Halgerda punctata is translucent white with a pattern of dark brown or black spots. There is a reticulate pattern of raised ridges which carry yellow-tipped tubercles. In animals from Thailand and Myanmar these ridges are pronounced, but in animals from Sri Lanka they are barely noticeable. The gills and rhinophores are translucent with dark brown markings.[2]

References

  1. Farran, G.P. (1905) Report on the opistobranchiate Mollusca collected by Professor Herdman, at Ceylon, in 1902. Report to the Government of Ceylon on the pearl oyster fisheries of the Gulf Of Manaar. Supplementary Report No. 21: 329-364. (Pls. 1-6).
  2. Rudman, W.B., 2001 (February 21) Halgerda punctata Farran, 1905. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  3. Rudman, W.B. (1978). The dorid opisthobranch genera Halgerda Bergh and Sclerodoris Eliot from the Indo-West Pacific. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 62: 59-88
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