OKINAWAN
OPISTHOBRANCH OF THE WEEK
Aegires serenae (Gosliner & Behrens 1997) [unrecorded size]
Opisthobranch of the Week Data
Taxonomy:
- Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
- Suborder: Doridina
- Family: Aegiridae
Frequency on Okinawa:
Collection Data:
- Individual Collection No: Photo only, without specimen
- Sunabe, 6.5 km NE Kuzu-misaki, Okinawa (26o 18.8'N, 127o 45.5'E)
- Date: 16 July, 2000 [Photo only, no specimens]
- Depth: Not recorded [Photo only, no specimens]
- Water temperature at collection depth: Not recorded
- Size: Photo only, size not recorded [Photo only, no specimens]
- Specimen deposited: Photo only, without specimen
[brackets indicate range for all Okinawa-collected specimens of the species]
Species Account:
Aegires serenae * is considered to be very rare on Okinawa. As of this date I've not personally found this beautiful dorid; the above featured animal is one which was photographed here by
Mr. Yokoi Kensuke of the "Blue Try" SCUBA & U/W Photo Shop", and his photograph of the animal is used here with his kind permission. Gosliner & Behrens (1997) report its distribution to be Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Belau, Pohnpei and Okinawa.
This beautiful animal is considerably dissimilar from other described species of Aegires, in both color and external morphology. The gray, black-spotted body of A. serenae is in relatively sharp contrast with other Aegires species. The presence of three elongate extrabranchial appendages and three multipinnate gills are also unique to A. serenae (Gosliner & Behrens, 1997).
The following Aegires species are known from the waters of Okinawa's main island:
Additionally, Mike Miller has a terrific photograph of Aegiris serenae on his Slug Site.
* Aegiris serenae was originally featured on these pages as Notodoris serenae Gosliner & Behrens, 1997. A recent paper by Fahey & Gosliner (2004) has proposed a taxonomic change to replace the name Notodoris with that of Aegires and the above featured animal follows their proposed taxonomy.
Etymology:
- Gosliner & Behrens (1997) named the animal in recognition of Serena Jebb, one of the first divers to make the authors aware of the species.
Literature Cited:
- Fahey S.J. & T.M. Gosliner. 2004. A Phylogenetic Analysis of the Aegiridae Fischer, 1883 (Mollusca, Nudibranchia, Phanerobranchia) with Descriptions of Eight New Species and a Reassessment of Phanerobranch Relationships. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 55 (34): 613-689, 82 figs., 4 tables.
- Gosliner, T.M. & Behrens, D.W. 1997. Description of four new species of Phanerobranch dorids from the Indo-Pacific, with a redescription of Gymnodoris aurita
(Gould, 1852). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 49(9): 287-308.
Page Date: 22 Jan '01
Page Modification Date: 08 Aug '05
Digitally manipulated photo
Copyright © 2005 Robert F. Bolland
