Pseudunela viatoris

Pseudunela viatoris is a species of sea slug, an acochlidian, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pseudunelidae.

Pseudunela viatoris
A live Pseudunela viatoris
hf – head-foot complex.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Acochlidiacea
clade Hedylopsacea[1]
Family:
Pseudunelidae
Genus:
Pseudunela
Species:
P. viatoris
Binomial name
Pseudunela viatoris
Neusser, Jörger & Schrödl, 2011[2]

The specific name viatoris is after the Latin word “viator” (engl. pilgrim/voyager) according to its supposed ability to travel over long distances.[2]

Distribution

Pseudunela viatoris is known from Viti Levu, Fiji and Gili Lawa Laut, Indonesia.[2] The type locality is Fiji, Viti Levu, Laucala Bay, Nukumbutho Island, GPS: 18°10.47′S, 178°28.34′E.[2]

Description
Photo of a dorsal view of a live Pseudunela viatoris. Body size is 3 mm.
lt – labial tentacle,
rh – rhinophore,
ey – eye,
hb – heart bulb,
dg – digestive gland,
vh – visceral hump.

The body size of living specimens of Pseudunela viatoris is 3–4 mm.[2] The body is divided into an anterior head-foot complex and a posterior elongated visceral hump.[2] The paired labial tentacles are broad at the base and taper to the end.[2] The rhinophores are tapered and shorter and thinner than the labial tentacles.[2] The densely ciliated foot is as broad as the anterior head-foot complex and extends about one third of the elongated visceral hump.[2] The heart bulb is visible externally in the anterior part of the visceral hump on the right body side.[2] Subepidermal, needle-shaped calcareous spicules are sparsely distributed in the cephalic tentacles, the foot and the visceral hump; in the anterior part of the latter they are larger than in the posterior part.[2] The body colour is whitish translucent, the digestive gland is brownish coloured (in specimens from Indonesia: orange-brownish shining through the epidermis).[2] Epidermal glands are distributed particularly over the visceral hump.[2] Whereas eyes are not visible externally in specimens from Fiji, eyes are weakly visible in some specimens from Indonesia.[2] Eye diameter is 30-35 µm.[2]

3D reconstruction of the general anatomy of the right side view of Pseudunela viatoris.
ot – oral tube,
cns – central nervous system,
ph – pharynx,
vd – vas deferens,
bf – basal finger,
p – penis,
pr – prostate,
pc – pericardium,
f – foot,
k – kidney,
alg – albumen gland,
ov – ovotestis,
vh – visceral hump,
dg – digestive gland.

Nervous system, digestive system, circulatory system, excretory system and reproductive system are described by Neusser et al. (2011) in detail.[2]

Ecology

Pseudunela viatoris is a minute species that lives in the spaces between sand grains in saltwater habitats, and it is thus considered to be a mesopsammic, marine interstitial animal that is part of the meiofauna of marine sands.[2]

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References

This article incorporates CC-BY-2.5 text from the reference[2]

  1. Schrödl M. & Neusser T. P. (2010). "Towards a phylogeny and evolution of Acochlidia (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158: 124-154. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00544.x.
  2. Neusser T. P., Jörger K. M. & Schrödl M. (2011). "Cryptic Species in Tropic Sands – Interactive 3D Anatomy, Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Meiofaunal Pseudunelidae (Gastropoda, Acochlidia)". PLoS ONE 6(8): e23313. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023313.
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