Cyerce orteai Valdés and Camacho-García, 2000

Moreno, Karina, Medrano, Sabrina, Gosliner, Terrence M., Wilson, Nerida G., Krug, Patrick J. & Valdés, Ángel, 2025, Phylogenetic systematics of the genus Cyerce Bergh, 1870 (Mollusca: Heterobranchia: Sacoglossa: Caliphyllidae) from the Pacific and Indian oceans with descriptions of nine new species, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 204 (1) : -

Cyerce orteai Valdés and Camacho-García, 2000

( Figs 20B, 23)

Cyerce orteai Valdés and Camacho, 2000: 445–456 , figs 1–5. Type locality: Playa Cabuya , Cóbano, Puntarenas Prov., Costa Rica,

Type material

Cyerce orteai — holotype at the Universidad de Costa Rica ( INBio CRI001500521 ) [formerly at the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad], Playa Cabuya, Cóbano , Puntarenas Prov., Costa Rica, 29 Jan 1999, not examined .

Material examined

Punta Mita , Nayarit, Mexico, Jan 1976, leg. F. and R. Poorman, 5 specimens 12–14 mm preserved length, dissected (isolates MM104 A–E, LACM 153499 ). El Anclote, Nayarit, Mexico, 17 Feb 2008, leg. A. Hermosillo, 1 specimen 13 mm preserved length (isolate MM107 , LACM 175024 ). Playa Cabuya, Cóbano, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, 29 Jan 1999, leg. Y. Camacho, 2 specimens 12–14 mm preserved length (isolates MM43 A–B, CASIZ 115230 , paratypes) .

Range

Tropical Eastern Pacific, from Nayarit, Mexico (present study) to Costa Rica ( Valdés and Camacho-García 2000).

Description

External morphology: Body colour light cream to olive green ( Fig. 20B). Pericardium white, with light brown striations forming web-like pattern. Head colour light cream, covered by dark reddish-brown, mask-like band around eyes, with few white specks. Rhinophores light cream with dark reddish-brown markings, white specks scattered throughout. Cerata inflated, obovate, translucent white, with dark brown striations forming weblike pattern around translucent tubercles; tubercles scattered throughout cerata, with minute white spots at centers. Cerata colour varies by specimen size; bolder dark reddish-brown striations in larger specimens. Ceratal margin outlined with dark yellow thick band and pronounced white spots dorsally. Dense white specks beneath ceratal margin. Ceratal peduncle light cream. Foot colour white with white specks.

Internal morphology: Radula with 10 teeth in a 14-mm preserved length specimen ( LACM 153499); 6 teeth on descending limb, 4 teeth on ascending limb ( Fig. 23A). Teeth very narrow, elongated, slightly curved with concaved tip. Leading tooth about 500 µm in length, with two rows of ~20 conical denticles along either side ( Fig. 23B). Denticles blunt, short, varying in size along tooth, smaller near base and tip, slightly enlarged towards middle of tooth. Ascus contains about 12 used teeth ( Fig. 23C). A penial stylet was not observed in any of the specimens dissected but it was described by Valdés and Camacho-García (2000).

Ecology

Diet unknown. Found beneath rocks.

Remarks

Valdés and Camacho-García (2000) described Cyerce orteai Valdés and Camacho-García, 2000 based on several live specimens collected from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and illustrated the external and internal morphology. Subsequent records extended the geographic range of this species as far north as Baja California, Mexico ( Angulo-Campillo 2002). The specimens here examined from Nayarit, Mexico are within the known range of the species and closely resemble the original description, as well as several paratypes from Costa Rica also studied herein. Valdés and Camacho-García (2000) described external characteristics such a dark brown mask-like pattern on the head; dark brown cerata with elevated translucent tubercles; and white spots along the cerata margin that are also present in the specimens from Nayarit. The radula described by Valdés and Camacho-García (2000) also closely resembles the radula dissected from the specimens from Nayarit, sharing similar elongated teeth with recurved conical denticles. Although not mentioned by Valdés and Camacho-García (2000), the images of the radular teeth have a distinct tip very similar to what we observed in the specimens from Nayarit. However, Valdés and Camacho-García (2000) describe tubercles along the rhinophores and tentacles, not observed in our specimens. Regardless, phylogenetic analyses recovered our specimens and the specimens described by Valdés and Camacho-García (2000) in a single clade with COI distances <0.5% ( Fig. 1B). Therefore, the material here examined belongs to C. orteai .

Cyerce orteai shares several internal and external morphological characteristics with C. pavonina , despite being found on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean. For instance, the radular teeth of both C. pavonina and C. orteai are long and narrow, with concave tips and short triangular denticles. The cerata of C. orteai have similar translucent tubercles to those observed in C. pavonina , although the tubercles are larger and more pronounced in C. orteai . Cyerce pavonina also has two dorso-medial brown spots on the inner side of the cerata, while C. orteai does not possess brown spots on either side of the cerata. Finally, the orange-yellowish band with white tubercles along the margin of the cerata is present in both species. Because of these similarities, some authors (e.g. Pittman and Fiene 2000) suggested that C. orteai could be a synonym of C. pavonina . However, species delimitation analyses all supported C. orteai as a distinct taxon, and in phylogenetic analyses, C. orteai was not sister to C. pavonina despite their superficial similarity in appearance. Thus, C. orteai is regarded herein as a valid species restricted to the Eastern-Pacific, while records of C. orteai from the tropical Indo-Pacific likely represent C. pavonina , C. goodheartae sp. nov., or C. liliuokalaniae sp. nov.