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.[1]

Bursatella leachii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Euopisthobranchia clade Aplysiomorpha
Superfamily:	Aplysioidea
Family:	Aplysiidae
Genus:	Bursatella Blainville, 1817
Species:	B. leachii
Binomial name
Bursatella leachii Blainville, 1817
Synonyms
Aclesia africana Engel, 1926 Aclesia freeri Griffin, 1912 Aclesia glauca Cheeseman, 1878 Aclesia ocelligera Bergh, 1902 Aclesia rosea Engel, 1926 Aplysia bursatella Rang, 1834 Aplysia pleii Rang, 1828 (original combination) Bursatella lacinulata Gould, 1852 Bursatella leachi [sic] (misspelling) Bursatella leachii africana (Engel, 1926) Bursatella leachii guineensis Bebbington, 1969 Bursatella leachii hirasei Eales & Engel, 1935 Bursatella leachii lacinulata Gould, 1852 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 Notarchus cirrosus Stimpson, 1855 Notarchus intrapictus Cockerell, 1893 Notarchus laciniatus Rüppell & Leuckart, 1830 Notarchus leachii (Blainville, 1817) Notarchus leachii cirrosus Stimpson, 1855 Notarchus villosus O'Donoghue, 1929 Ramosaclesia rex Allan, 1932

Distribution

This is a circumtropical sea hare, the only species in its genus. It occurs in the intertidal zone and down to at least 10 m[2] on coastal areas of the Indo-West Pacific oceans, the Caribbean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

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.[3]

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.[3] This sea hare may be found in dense concentrations or singly. It is herbivorous. The species lays egg ribbons in long green stringy tangles.[4]

Subspecies

All subspecies are considered synonyms of Bursatella leachii

• Bursatella leachii africana
• Bursatella leachii guineensis Bebbington, 1969
• Bursatella leachii leachii Blainville, 1817
• Bursatella leachii pleii Rang, 1826[5] (synonym: Notarchus pleii (Rang, 1828))
• Bursatella leachii savigniana Audouin, 1826 (synonyms: Bursatella savigniana Audouin, 1826 (basionym); Notarchus savignyanus )

References

1. Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2012). Bursatella leachii Blainville, 1817. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138759 on 2012-03-31
2. ZSILAVECZ, G. 2007. Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay. ISBN 0-620-38054-3
3. 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.
4. GOSLINER, T.M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8
5. http://www.catalogueoflife.org accessed 25 May 2009

• 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.
• 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.
• Engel H. (1926). Drei neue Arten der Gattung Aclesia (Rang) Bergh, 1902. Zoologischer Anzeiger. 69: 180-187.
• 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
• 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
• 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.
• Bebbington A. (1969) Bursatella leachi guineensis subsp. nov. (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia) from Ghana. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 38: 323-341
• 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
• Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (eds), European Register of Marine Species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Patrimoines Naturels. 50: 180-213.

External links

• Bursatella, p. 138, in: Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles (F. Cuvier, ed.), vol. 5, supplément. Levrault, Strasbourg & Le Normant, Paris
• 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
• Rang S. (1828). Histoire naturelle des Aplysiens. Paris: Firmin Didot. 83 pp. 24 pls
• 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]
• 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
• 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
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• 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

• SEM images of the radula can be found at Thompson, T.E.; Bebbington, A. (1973). "Scanning electron microscope studies of gastropod radulae". Malacologia. 14: 147–165.

• Images
• Photos of Bursatella leachii on Sealife Collection