Bursatella leachii

Bursatella leachii, common name the ragged sea hare or shaggy sea hare, is a species of large sea slug or sea hare, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Aplysiidae, the sea hares.[13] Previously thought to be a single worldwide species it is now known to be a species complex.[14]

Bursatella leachii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Clade: Euopisthobranchia
Clade: Anaspidea
Superfamily: Aplysioidea
Family: Aplysiidae
Genus: Bursatella
Species:
B. leachii
Binomial name
Bursatella leachii
Synonyms
  • Aclesia africana Engel, 1926
  • Aclesia freeri Griffin, 1912[2]
  • Aclesia glauca Cheeseman, 1878[3]
  • Aclesia rosea Engel, 1926[4]
  • Aplysia bursatella Rang, 1834
  • Aplysia pleii Rang, 1828[5]
  • Bursatella lacinulata Gould, 1852
  • Bursatella leachi [sic] (misspelling)
  • Bursatella leachii africana (Engel, 1926)
  • Bursatella leachii guineensis Bebbington, 1969
  • Bursatella leachii hirasei Eales & Engel, 1935[6]
  • Bursatella leachii lacinulata Gould, 1852[7]
  • Bursatella leachii leachii Blainville, 1817
  • Bursatella leachii pleii (Rang, 1828)
  • Bursatella leachii rosea (Engel, 1926)
  • Bursatella leachii savigniana Audouin, 1826
  • Bursatella savigniana Audouin, 1826 (original combination)
  • Notarchus (Bursatella) leachii (Blainville, 1817)
  • Notarchus brevipes Hägg, 1904[8]
  • Notarchus cirrosus Stimpson, 1855[9]
  • Notarchus intrapictus Cockerell, 1893
  • Notarchus laciniatus Rüppell & Leuckart, 1830[10]
  • Notarchus leachii (Blainville, 1817)
  • Notarchus leachii cirrosus Stimpson, 1855
  • Notarchus villosus O'Donoghue, 1929[11]
  • Ramosaclesia rex Allan, 1932[12]

Distribution

This species occurs in the intertidal zone and down to at least 10 m[15] on coastal areas of the Indo-West Pacific oceans and has invaded the Mediterranean Sea[16][17] It has been reported from Hong Kong[18] and Australia.[19]

Description
A close-up detail of the head and anterior part of Bursatella leachii

Bursatella leachii is green to greenish brown. It has a broad and short head. Its mantle is covered with papillae (finger-like outgrowths), which give it a thorny aspect. The mantle has a network-like pattern with blue eyespots (ocelli) in black spots and green areas. It moves slowly on a broad foot. There is short, sharp tail. The short parapodia (fleshy, winglike outgrowths) are fused on their rear end.

The maximum recorded length is 120 mm.[20]

Ecology

The species is usually found in estuaries and tidal pools, and more rarely on sandy bottoms. The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0 m; maximum recorded depth is 7 m.[20] This sea hare may be found in dense concentrations or singly. It is herbivorous. The species lays egg ribbons in long green stringy tangles.[21]

Subspecies

The following subspecies are currently considered synonyms of Bursatella leachii

  • Bursatella leachii africana
  • Bursatella leachii guineensis Bebbington, 1969[22]
  • Bursatella leachii leachii Blainville, 1817
  • Bursatella leachii pleii Rang, 1826[23] (synonym: Notarchus pleii (Rang, 1828))
  • Bursatella leachii savigniana Audouin, 1826 (synonyms: Bursatella savigniana Audouin, 1826 (basionym); Notarchus savignyanus )[24]

References
  1. Blainville, 1817. Bursatella, p. 138, in: Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles (F. Cuvier, ed.), vol. 5, supplément. Levrault, Strasbourg & Le Normant, Paris,
  2. Griffin L.E. (1912). The anatomy of Aclesia freeri new species. The Philippine Journal of Science. section D, 7(2): 65–90, pls 1-6.
  3. Cheeseman, T.F. (1878). Descriptions of three new species of opisthobranchiate Mollusca from New Zealand. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1878: 275–277.
  4. Engel H. (1926). Drei neue Arten der Gattung Aclesia (Rang) Bergh, 1902. Zoologischer Anzeiger. 69: 180-187.
  5. Rang S., 1828. Histoire naturelle des Aplysiens. Paris: Firmin Didot. 83 pp. 24 pls.
  6. Eales, N. & Engel, H. 1935. The genus Bursatella De Blainville. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 21: 279-303, plate 31. page(s): 298
  7. Gould, A.A. (1852). Mollusca and shells. In: United States Exploring Expedition during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842 under the command of Charles Wilkes. Boston. 12: 1-510; atlas 1856: 1-16.
  8. Hägg R. (1904). Two new Opisthobranchiathe Mollusca from the Red Sea. In: L. A. Jägerskiöld (ed.), Results of the Swedish Zoological Expedition to Egypt and the White Nile 1901 under the direction of L. A. Jägerskiöld, Part 1: 1–16, pl. 1.
  9. Stimpson W. (1855). Descriptions of some of the new Marine Invertebrata from the Chinese and Japanese Seas. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. 7(10): 375-384.
  10. Rüppell E. & Leuckart F.S. (1828-1830). Mollusca [in Atlas zu des Reise im Nordlichen Afrika von Eduard Rüppell. 1. Abth. Zoologie. 5. Neue wirbellose Thiere des Rothen Meers.] Frankfurt, H.L. Brönner pp. 1-22, pl. 1-12.
  11. O'Donoghue, C.H., 1929. Opisthobranchiate Mollusca collected by the South African Marine Biological Survey. Union of South Africa. Fisheries & Marine Biological Survey Report No. 7 for the year ending June 1929. pp. 1-84, pls. 1-8. Special Reports No. 1. page(s): 25–30, pl. 3 figs 27–32
  12. Allan, J.K. (1932). A new genus and species of sea-slug, and two new species of sea-hares from Australia. Records of the Australian Museum. 18: 314–320.
  13. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Bursatella leachii Blainville, 1817. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2021-01-27.
  14. Bazzicalupo, E.; Crocetta, F.; Gosliner, T. M.; Berteaux-Lecellier, V.; Camacho-García, Y. E.; Chandran, B. K. S.; Valdés, Á. (2020). Molecular and morphological systematics of Bursatella leachii de Blainville, 1817 and Stylocheilus striatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1832 reveal cryptic diversity in pantropically distributed taxa (Mollusca : Gastropoda : Heterobranchia). Invertebrate Systematics. 34: 535-568.
  15. Zsilavecz, G. 2007. Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay. ISBN 0-620-38054-3
  16. Katsanevakis, S.; Bogucarskis, K.; Gatto, F.; Vandekerkhove, J.; Deriu, I.; Cardoso A.S., 2012. Building the European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN): a novel approach for the exploration of distributed alien species data. BioInvasions Records. 1: 235-245.
  17. Occhipinti-Ambrogi, A.; Marchini, A.; Cantone, G.; Castelli, A.; Chimenz, C.; Cormaci, M.; Froglia, C.; Furnari, G.; Gambi, M. C.; Giaccone, G.; Giangrande, A.; Gravili, C.; Mastrototaro, F.; Mazziotti, C.; Orsi-Relini, L.; Piraino, S. (2010). Alien species along the Italian coasts: an overview. Biological Invasions. 13(1): 215-237.
  18. Ong Che RG. & Morton B. (1991). Spatial and temporal variations in the subtidal macrobenthic community of Tai Tam bay, Hong Kong. In: Morton B, editor. Asian Marine Biology 8. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong. pp 193-216
  19. Nimbs M. J., Willan R. C. & Smith S. D. A. (2017). Is Port Stephens, eastern Australia, a global hotspot for biodiversity of Aplysiidae (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia)?. Molluscan Research. 37(1): 47-65.
  20. Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
  21. Gosliner, T.M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8
  22. Bebbington A. (1969) Bursatella leachi guineensis subsp. nov. (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia) from Ghana. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 38: 323-341.
  23. http://www.catalogueoflife.org accessed 25 May 2009
  24. Audouin V., 1826. Explication sommaire des planches de Mollusques de l'Egypte et de la Syrie publiées par J.C. Savigny. in: Description de l'Egypte ou recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Egypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française, publié par les ordres de sa majesté l'empereur Napoléon le grand. Histoire Naturelle, Animaux invertébrés 1(4): 7-56. Paris: Imprimerie impériale
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