Aplysia nigrocincta, VON MARTENS, 1880

Golestani, Haleh, Crocetta, Fabio, Padula, Vinicius, Camacho-García, Yolanda, Langeneck, Joachim, Poursanidis, Dimitris, Pola, Marta, Yokeş, M. Baki, Cervera, Juan Lucas, Jung, Dae-Wui, Gosliner, Terrence M., Araya, Juan Francisco, Hooker, Yuri, Schrödl, Michael & Valdés, Ángel, 2019, The little Aplysia coming of age: from one species to a complex of species complexes in Aplysia parvula (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Heterobranchia), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 187, pp. 279-330 : 311-314

APLYSIA NIGROCINCTA VON MARTENS, 1880

( FIGS 4K–M, 14A–C, 14H, 15C, 16A–C, 17D)

Aplysia nigrocincta von Martens, 1880: 307 , pl. 21, fig. 3. Type locality: Île aux Fouquets, Mauritius. Syntypes: Mauritius, dry shell, 14.2-mm long, leg. Möbius (ZMB Moll 32165), shell with tissue 10-mm long, leg. Möbius (ZMB Moll 51472).

Additional material examined: Savai’i Island,

Samoa, leg. M. Schrödl ( ZSM Mol 20060223). Mindoro,

Philippines, 28 April 2015, one specimen, leg. P. J Aristorenas ( CASIZ 208581 , isolate HG105). Madang , Papua New Guinea, 19 November 2012, one specimen, leg. V. Knutson ( CASIZ 191335 , isolate HG102) ; 9 November 2012, one specimen, leg. V. Knutson ( CASIZ 191092 , isolate HG103) . Mozambique, one specimen 9 mm preserved length, leg. M. Pola ( CPIC 01386 , isolate HG85) .

Description: Morphological characteristics as in the description of species complex 3. Radular formula 22 × 3.6.1.6. 3 in a 9 mm preserved length specimen from Mozambique ( CPIC 01386, isolate HG85), n × 2.6.1.6. 2 in a 15 mm preserved length specimen from the Philippines ( CASIZ 208581, isolate HG105) and n × 3.7.1.7. 3 in a 20 mm preserved length specimen from Papua New Guinea ( CASIZ 191335, isolate HG102).

Range: The range of Aplysia nigrocincta has been confirmed to include the Indian and eestern Pacific Oceans, from East Africa ( Mozambique) to Mauritius, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Vanuatu.

Remarks

Several specimens from the tropical Indo-Pacific of A. parvula s.l. sequenced here constitute a distinct species, as confirmed by the ABGD analysis. These specimens are morphologically and genetically members of species complex 3, but are distinct from other species in this complex from the eastern Pacific and the Hawaiian Islands. A review of the literature reveals that the name A. nigrocincta von Martens, 1880 most likely represents this species.

Von Martens (1880) introduced the name A. nigrocincta based on a 17-mm long preserved specimen collected from Mauritius and described it as: ‘Wide, smooth, light brown, the free edges of the foot flaps, the edge of the sole of the foot and the edge of the rather large hole in the coat (shields) black, mostly continuous, sometimes slightly stained. Shell strongly domed, comparatively large, vivacious amber-yellow, reddish translucent by the shield, spoon-shaped, with a shallow neck and strongly inflected point, occupying more than half the length of the contracted animal.’ This description matches the characteristics of animals in species complex 3, including the presence of a large mantle foramen edged in black and a very large visceral hump, occupying a large portion of the animal. We also examined the type material of A. nigrocincta , which consists of two syntypes remaining, a dry shell specimen and a wet specimen with a shell and some soft parts remaining (ZMB Moll 32165, ZMB Moll 51472) ( Fig. 4K–M). These specimens are consistent with the animals here examined and assigned to this species, and there are no major differences between them. Based on other material of A. parvula s.l. here examined from the Indo-Pacific, the descriptions associated with the name A. nigrocincta most closely matches the specimens included in this section and, therefore, we are confidently using this name for this species.

Engel (1936) considered A. nigrocincta as a valid species endemic to East Africa, including specimens identified by Burne (1906) as A. nigrocincta and A. elongata . In this study we found the range of A. nigrocincta to extend from the western Indian Ocean to the western Pacific.