Hi all, I'm starting some work on algal communities in the Bahamas and we're finding very small sea slugs attached to the macroalgae - Acetabularia sp. The slugs are 1-4mm in length and are a brown color. There are a couple of other bubble-snail type gastropods we're finding too and I'd love to get a good key to identify them to species. I've read a lot about the kleptoplastic Elysia sp. on Acetabularia sp., but I don't think that is the slug we're dealing with - since they aren't white/green/red like the descriptions of that genus suggests. I can provide a little more info once I've put them under the microscope, just ask!
Cheers
Kate
Do you have a copy of Caribbean Sea Slugs by Valdes, Hamann, Behrens and Dupont?
Hi Kate, it could be great if you had pictures of them as people could help identifying them.
Hi Blanca Figuerola,
if you click on the attached picture to the question, there is a lug there! Didn't have a microscope to get a better one, sorry!
Hello Kate, definitely the book by Valdés et al. might be a great purchase.
Although I cannot see any clear slug in the pic come Elysia species might be brown in color, check this post on the Sea Slug Forum about Elysia serca:
http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12392
Valdés, A., Hamann, J., Behrens, D. W., & DuPont, A. (2006). Caribbean sea slugs. A field guide to the opisthobranch mollusks from the tropical northwestern Atlantic. Sea Challengers, Gig Harbor, Washington.
ISO 690
Thanks for the suggestions about the book. I now have a copy and find it us unfortunately not a key, but a collection of images and some descriptive characteristics of sea slugs. It us certainly helpful from a superficial standpoint and is surely a good reference for basic diagnostic purposes. However, I am hoping to identify the organisms I have to species, and there is not consistent diagnostic feature information, nor comparative morphology for the majority of the taxa represented. So, yes, a good starting point, but I am still looking for a useful key. Any other ideas out there? Many thanks to past & future responses.
Hi all! Well I think I know what the heck these things are. It turns out they are these really cool gastropods from the family Caecidae. They are very abundant in benthic-ish communities in the Atlantic, so it makes perfect sense they would be in the Bahamas too. The particular genus for the specimen in the picture is likely to be Meioceras- I'm not sure of the species yet. I didn't have a chance to look at the specimen from the other pond, but it is possible there was a second genus there too. Super neat organisms that I never knew about. They are gastropods, but have a terminal aperture and suction cup-like operculum and NO whorls as adults! The protochonch detaches at some point and the open end is sealed shut with a plug. So although they are snail-like, they really don't resemble snails in any way. Cool, and thanks for those of you who tried to help!
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