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Hydatina physis (MOLLUSCA: GASTROPODA: OPISTHOBRANCHIA) FROM THE AZORES

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Peter Wirtz
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97
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Hydatina physis (MOLLUSCA: GASTROPODA: OPISTHOBRANCHIA) FROM
THE AZORES
PETER WIRTZ
W
IRTZ
, P. 1999. Hydatina physis (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) from
the Azores. Arquipélago. Life and Marine Sciences 17A: 97-99. Ponta Delgada.
ISSN 0873-4704.
The opisthobranch gastropod Hydatina physis (Linné, 1758) is recorded from the Azores
for the first time. The distribution of the species is reviewed. Colour photos of live animals
are presented and colour variation of the species is discussed.
W
IRTZ
, P. 1999. Hydatina physis (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Opistobranchia) dos
Açores. Arquipélago. Ciências Biológicas e Marinhas 17A: 97-99. Ponta Delgada.
ISSN 0873-4704.
O gastropode opistobrânquio Hydatina physis (Linné, 1758) é registado nos Açores pela
primeira vez. A distribuição da espécie é revista. Fotografias a cores de animais vivos são
apresentadas e a variação da cor da espécie é discutida.
Peter Wirtz, Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas, Universidade dos Açores, Cais de
Santa Cruz, PT-9901-862 Horta, Açores. e-mail: peter@dop.uac.pt
INTRODUCTION
V
OSKUIL
(1995) revised the genus Hydatina. He
recognized six species, five from the tropical
Indo-Pacific, one from the Atlantic. For the
Atlantic species Hydatina vesicaria (Lightfoot,
1786), he notes a curious distribution pattern:
tropical in the western Atlantic (Brazil to Florida)
and subtropical (Canary Islands to Iberian
Peninsula) in the eastern Atlantic. Such a
distribution pattern would be very unusual
because most (if not all) amphi-atlantic species
have their centre of distribution in the tropics on
both sides of the Atlantic (see V
ERMEIJ
&
R
OSENBERG
1993 for a discussion of amphi-
atlantic molluscs). It appeared far more likely that
the species had simply not yet been recorded in
the tropical eastern Atlantic, which is much less
studied than its western counterpart. However, a
search of the literature revealed that Hydatina had
already been found in the tropical eastern
Atlantic: P
ILSBRY
(1985: 387) recorded the
species from São Vicente, Cape Verde Islands.
Here I report an additional record from the Cape
Verde Islands and a new record for the Azores.
Many authors (e.g. R
UDMAN
1972) consider
H. vesicaria (Lightfoot, 1786) a junior synonym
of H. physis (Linné, 1758). V
OSKUIL
(1995)
writes that H. vesicaria has a more slender shell
with more irregularly spaced and thinner
brownish spiral lines and more "frilly" lateral
lobes than the Indo-Pacific H. physis. No
measurements are given for the statement on
shell-shape by V
OSKUIL
(1995). As shown below
the other two characters do in fact not
differentiate Atlantic and Indo-Pacific specimens,
and I will use the name H. physis in the
following.
98
RESULTS
C
APE
V
ERDE
I
SLANDS
On 29 March 1986, the author and P. Nahke
observed an adult H. physis in a tide pool at
Calheta de São Martinho, south coast of São
Tiago Island, Cape Verde Islands. The animal
was photographed in situ (Fig. 1) but not
collected.
A
ZORES
A single, large (shell length 3.6 cm) individual
of H. physis was found in the natural swimming
pool at Varadouro, southwestern coast of Faial
Island, Azores, on the night of the 26th of August
1999. The animal was in the process of depositing
eggs when encountered. The animal is shown in
Fig. 2. The specimen has been deposited in the
collection of the Department of Oceanography
and Fisheries of the University of the Azores.
DISCUSSION
An underwater photo of an animal from Tenerife,
Canary Islands is reproduced in Fig. 3. Another
photo (by R. Herrera) of an animal from Gran
Canaria, Canary Islands, can be found in W
IRTZ
(1995, p. 185). The origin of the two shells
depicted in P
OPPE
& G
OTO
(1991, plate 37) is,
unfortunately, not stated by the authors.
As regards the colour pattern, a comparison of
the three photos printed here and that in W
IRTZ
(1995) with four photos of animals from the Indo-
Pacific (G
OSLINER
1987, p. 40; D
EBELIUS
1998,
p. 127; R
UDMAN
1998) shows that - contrary to
Voskuil´s statement - Indo-Pacific animals can
have lines on the shell that are either thicker or
thinner, more or less numerous and more closely
or more widely spaced than animals from the
Atlantic.
Atlantic Hydatina are supposed to have more
"frilly" lateral lobes than Indo-Pacific ones
(V
OSKUIL
1995) but the animals from the Azores
(Fig. 1) and from the Cape Verde Islands (Fig. 2)
do not have more frilly lobes than the H. physis
from the Indian Ocean depicted by G
OSLINER
(1987, p 40).
Fig. 1.
São Tiago Island, Cape Verde Islands (photo P.
Nahke).
Fig. 2.
Faial Island, Azores (photo P. Wirtz).
Fig. 3.
Tenerife, Canary Islands (photo P. Wirtz).
Atlantic Hydatina are supposed to have a pale
white margin of the lateral lobes, while this is
blue in Indo-Pacific animals (V
OSKUIL
1995).
99
While all Atlantic animals seen by me did,
indeed, have white margins of the lateral lobes, an
animal from Australia depicted by R
UDMAN
(1998) also had a white margin of the lateral
lobes.
Thus, none of the differentiating characters
given by V
OSKUIL
(1995) is supported. In
addition, as pointed out by R
UDMAN
(1972), the
type material for H. physis (Linné, 1758) comes
from the West Indies and thus H. physis would be
the correct name for Atlantic animals, even if the
Atlantic and Indo-Pacific animals belonged to
different species.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Alexander Martynov kindly pointed out to me the
previous record of H. vesicaria from the Cape
Verde Islands.
REFERENCES
D
EBELIUS
, H. 1998. Nudibranchs and sea snails Indo-
Pacific field guide. IKAN, Frankfurt, 2nd edition.
321 pp.
G
OSLINER
, T. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa.
Sea Challengers, Monterey, 136 pp.
P
ILSBRY
, H.A. 1985. Polyplacophora.
Acanthochitonidae, Cryptoplacidae and appendix.
Textibranchia. Manual of Conchology (1) 15 (60),
181-436. Philadelphia.
P
OPPE
, G.T. & Y. G
OTO
1991. European Seashells. Vol
1. Verlag Christa Hemmen, Wiesbaden. 352 pp
R
UDMAN
, W.B. 1972. The anatomy of the
opisthobranch genus Hydatina and the functioning
of the mantle cavity and alimentary canal.
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 51: 121-
139.
R
UDMAN
, W.B. 1998. Hydatina physis. In: Sea Slug
Forum, www.austmus.gov.au/seaslug/hydaphys,
last assessed 16 September 1999.
V
ERMEIJ
, G.J & G. R
OSENBERG
1993. Giving and
receiving: the tropical Atlantic as donor and
recipient region for invading species. American
Malacological Bulletin 10/2: 181-194.
V
OSKUIL
, R.P.A. 1995. The living species of the genus
Hydatina Schumacher, 1817, (Mollusca:
Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia: Hydatinidae) with
the description of a new species. Vita Marina 43
(1-2): 29-38.
W
IRTZ
, P. 1995. Underwater Guide Madeira Canary
Islands Azores Invertebrates. Naglschmid Verlag,
Stuttgart. 248 pp.
Accepted 18 September 1999.
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