It was photographed recently off the Philippines, and is no more than 4 or 5 mm across. There have been a lot of them in the water off Cebu Island in recent weeks. It appears to have two 'wings' which are used for propulsion.
I am not an expert on pteropods, but the small shell looks like it could be someting in Cavoliniidae Gray, 1850 (1815) , so maby a Diacria or Cavolinia of som sort.
Ruth:
This could be probably Cavolinia uncinata?. Have a look at this link:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00390533#page-1
Best
Syed
Hi Ruth, you could ask Deborah Wall-Palmer who is based here in Plymouth... Hope all's well!
Louise
Hi Ruth,
This could be the superfamily Cavolinioidea and is the most species group of sea butterflies.
They are pelagic marine gastropods, so called because they swim by flapping their wing-like parapodia. Quite small, less than 1 cm in body size with 2 long tentacles
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/499686007
Regards
Dear Ruth, you could ask our colleague Peter Kohnert, based at the ZSM (Munich). E-mail: [email protected]
All the best,
Vinicius
I believe is Cavolinia longirostris (Lesueur in Blainville, 1821).
Thank you everyone! Your responses are much appreciated and I will follow up with the contacts you suggested.
It is a Diacavolinia, maybe D. longirostris but it will be difficult to Id. from this picture.
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