A specimen of Aplysiopsis elegans (Deshayes, 1853) was found by snorkeling on a beach in Rovinj (Istria, Croatia) on a belt of the red algae Halopteris scoparia in the shallow rocky coast.
This species was previously recorded only at few localities in northern western Mediterranean and at the Canary Archipelago.Primjerak Aplysiopsis elegans (Dshayes, 1853) je pronađen tijekom ronjenja na plaži u Rovinju (Istra, Hrvatska) u pojasu crvene alge
Halopteris scoparia na plitkoj stjenovitoj obali. Prethodni nalazi ove vrste su zabilježeni na samo nekoliko lokaliteta u sjeverno-zapadnom
Sredozemlju i Arhipelagu Kanarskog otočja

Borut MAVRIČ

Domen TRKOV

Lovrenc LIPEJ

English

A specimen of Aplysiopsis elegans (Deshayes, 1853) was found by snorkeling on a beach in Rovinj (Istria, Croatia) on a belt of the red algae Halopteris scoparia in the shallow rocky coast. This species was previously recorded only at few localities in northern western Mediterranean and at the Canary Archipelago.Primjerak Aplysiopsis elegans (Dshayes, 1853) je pronađen tijekom ronjenja na plaži u Rovinju (Istra, Hrvatska) u pojasu crvene alge Halopteris scoparia na plitkoj stjenovitoj obali. Prethodni nalazi ove vrste su zabilježeni na samo nekoliko lokaliteta u sjeverno-zapadnom Sredozemlju i Arhipelagu Kanarskog otočja

MAVRIČ, Borut

TRKOV, Domen

LIPEJ, Lovrenc

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First record of the Aplysiopsis elegans (Deshayes1853)(Gastropoda Opisthobranchia: Saccoglossa) in the Adriatic Sea Borut MAVRIČ1*, Domen TRKOV2 and Lovrenc LIPEJ11 Marine Biology Station, National Institute of Biology, Fornace 41, 6330 Piran, Slovenia2 Biodiva – Conservation biologist society, Kettejeva 1, SI-6000 Koper, Slovenia*Corresponding author, e-mail: mavric@mbss.orgA specimen of Aplysiopsis elegans (Deshayes, 1853) was found by snorkeling on a beach in Rovinj (Istria, Croatia) on a belt of the red algae Halopteris scoparia in the shallow rocky coast. This species was previously recorded only at few localities in northern western Mediterranean and at the Canary Archipelago.ISSN: 0001-5113AADRAYACTA ADRIAT.,55(2): 245 - 248, 2014  Key words: first record, Aplysiopsis elegans, Adriatic Sea INTRODUCTIONDuring the last decade the knowledge on the opisthobranch fauna in the Adriatic Sea improved substantially. The main reason laid probably in the vivid coloration of sea slugs which attract underwater photographers and other interested divers. The same is true also for the northern Adriatic sea where many new sea-slugs for the area were found recently. Among them there are also some species, still considered as very rare or less known, such as Cumanotus beaumonti (TuRK, 2005) and Pis-einotecus sphaerifera (MAVRIČ & LIpej, 2012), and also some alien species, such as Halgerda cf. wileyi (TuRK, 2000) and Polycera hedgpethi (GIAcoBBe & de MAtteo, 2013). During an occasional snorkelling many small opisthobranchs were found on algal belt. Among others a tiny opisthobranch was found on a red algae Halopteris scoparia. After a detailed inspection, the specimen was determined as ShORT COmmUNICATIONAplysiopsis elegans (deshAyes, 1853), which appeared to be not yet confirmed in the Adriatic Sea. mATERIAL AND mEThODSThe specimen of A. elegans was found on 2. september 2014 in Rovinj (45° 3’ 53.96”N, 13° 38’ 19.21”e) (Fig. 1) on a belt of the red algae Halopteris scoparia in the rocky intertidal zone (> 1 m depth). The specimen was meas-ured alive and photographed (Fig. 2) under the stereomicroscope olympus sZX16. Afterwards, the nudibranch was identified with the help of the keys for nudibranch determination such as pRuVot-FoL (1954) and SchMekeL & poRtMANN (1982). Specialized internet web sites such as www.seaslugforum were helpful as well. The taxonomy and nomenclature are in accord-ance with the World Register of Marine Spe-cies (WoRMS; www.marinespecies.org). Subse-quently the specimen was fixed in 70% alcohol 246  ACTA ADRIATICA, 55(2): 245 - 248, 2014solution and deposited in the collection of the Marine biology station (MBs) of the National Institute of Biology. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONthe specimen measured approximately 6 mm in total length (Fig. 2). It was determined according different diagnostic features such as the colour pattern and the bands on the head. The spindle shaped cerata have typical strait brown stripes. Rhinophora are short, folded and splitted. The black eyes spots are behind rhinophora and in front of the first cerata. Other characters agree well with the species descrip-tion of tRINchese (1877-1879) and schMekeL & poRtMANN (1982).Aplysiopsis elegans was recorded only in few occasions in east Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean Sea. One among first records of this species after its description was reported for the Gulf of Genova by tRINchese (1877-1879). The species was later reported for Banyuls (southern France) by pRuVot-FoL (1954), Bal-Fig. 1. Map of the Istrian peninsula (Northern Adriatic Sea) with the location (Rovinj), where the specimen of A. elegans was found Fig. 2. Specimen of A. elegans found in waters off Rovinj (Istria, Croatia) (Photo: B. Mavrič)earic Islands (BALLesteRos & teMpLAdo, 1996) and Qajjenza (Malta) (sAMMut & peRRoNe, 1998, sAMMut, 2012). The species was also found on Islas Canarias by ORTEA et al. (1998). up to date, this species was not reported in the Adri-atic Sea (www.seaslugforum). In our case the sea slug was found on the red algae Halopteris scoparia. The specimen recorded from Malta was found beached on red algae (sAMMut & peRRoNe, 1998), as well, although authors mentioned that it was found usually on Cladophora sp. and Cystoseira sp. They also reported spawns in March, May and October. The typical habitat seems to be the shal-low rocky areas which from the bionomic point of view fit in the biocoenosis of photophilic algae. ORTEA et al. (1998) reported a record of a 12 mm long specimen, found in intertidal belt at Punta del Hidalgo, Tenerife (Islas Canarias) on 1st october 1996.The inspection of a turf vegetation and similar peculiar habitat types also in areas of an intense maritime traffic could be helpful in find-ing other opisthobranchs not yet recorded in the studied area, as well as non indigenous species, which are known to colonize impoverished eco-systems. In fact, the finding of the rare and less 247MAVRIČ et al.: First record of the Aplysiopsis elegans (deshayes1853) ...known P. sphaerifera occurred in a similar habi-tat type in the harbour of Koper (MAVRIČ & LIpej, 2012). We assume that the list of the sacoglossan species, inhabiting the northern Adriatic Sea could be enlarged in the near future. ACKNOWLEDGmENTSWe are very grateful to Dr. C. SAMMuT, who helped us by providing important data on A. elegans. REFERENCESBALLESTEROS, M. & j. teMpLAdo. 1996. Opis-tobranquios de las islas Baleares y de las Columbretes. (Opisthobranchs of the Bal-earic Islands and the Columbretes) In: Libro de Résumenes XI congresso Nacional de Malacología. D. Moreno (Editor). Sociedad Española de Malacología. Almería, Spain, pp. 40-41.CERVERA, J.-L., G. CALADO, C. GAVAIA, M. A. E. MALAQuIAS, J. TEMPLADO, M. BALLESTEROS, j. c. GARcíA-GóMeZ & c. MeGINA. 2004. An annotated and updated check- list of the opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Spain and Portugal (including islands and archipelagos). Boletín Instituto Español De Oceanografía, 20 (1-4): 1-122.GIAcoBBe, s. & s. de MAtteo. 2013. The poten-tially invasive opisthobranch Polycera hedg-pethi er. Marcus, 1964 (Gastropoda Nudi-branchia), introduced in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon. Biodiversity Journal, 4 (2): 359-364.MAVRIČ, B. & L. LIpej 2012. On the rare and less known nudibranch Piseinotecus sphaerifer-us (schmekel, 1965) (Gastropoda, Nudi-branchia, Piseinotecidae) in the Adriatic Sea. Acta Adriat., 53(2): 473 – 476.oRteA, j., L. MoRo, j.j. BAcALLAdo & j. espINo-sA. 1998. Catalogo abreviado de las especies del orden Sacoglossa (= Ascoglossa, Mol-lusca: Opisthobranchia) de las Islas Canarias y de Cabo Verde. Revista Academia Canaria de las ciencias X(4), 87-96.pRuVot-FoL, A.1954. Mollusques opisthobranch-es. Paris, Lechevalier: pp. 1-457.sAMMut , c. & A. peRRoNe . 1998. A preliminary check-list of Opisthobranchia (Mollusca, Gastropoda) from the Maltese Islands. Bas-teria, 62: 221-240.SAMMuT, C. 2012. Aplysiopsis elegans. Retrieved from http://www.naturamalta.com/Aplysiop-sis_elegans.html. Accessed 2014-10-30schMekeL, L. & A. poRtMANN. 1982. Opistho-branchia des Mittelmeeres Niudibranchia und Saccoglossa. Berlin, Springer Verlag, 410 pp. thoMpsoN, t.e. 1985/1986. Annotated checklist of the benthic opisthobranch molluscs of the Adriatic Sea, with special reference to locali-ties in the Rovinj area. Thalassia Iugoslavica, 21/22, 99-108.tRINchese, s. 1877-79. Aeolididae e famiglie affini del Porto di Genova. Part 1. Anatomia, fisiologia, embriologia delle Phyllobranchi-ae, Hermaeidae, Aeolididae, Proctonotidae, Dotonidae del Porto de Genova. Atti della R. università di Genova. Atlas, pp. 1-94, pls. 1-35.TuRK, T. 2000. The Opistobranch mollusks (cephalaspidea, saccoglossa, Notaspidea, Anaspidea and Nudibranchia) of the Adri-atic Sea with special reference to Slovenian coast. Annals for Istrian and Mediterranean studies, 10(2): 161-172. TuRK, T. 2005. unusual Sea Slug from Cape Madona (piran, slovenia) – the first record of Cumanotus beaumonti (eliot, 1906) in the Mediterranean Sea. Annales for Istrian and Mediterranean Studies, 15(1): 1-4.  WoRMS, World Register of Marine Species. Available from http://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ. Accessed 2014-11-25 seA sLuG FoRuM. Available at www.seaslugfo-rum. Accessed 2014-10-30Received: 12 November 2014Accepted: 25 November 2014248  ACTA ADRIATICA, 55(2): 245 - 248, 2014Prvi nalaz Aplysiopsis elegans (Deshayes1853)(Gastropoda Opisthobranchia: Saccoglossa) u Jadranskom moru Borut MAVRIČ1*, Domen TRKOV2 i Lovrenc LIPEJ11Morska biološka postaja, Nationalni institut za biologiju, Fornače 41, 6330 Piran, Slovenija2Biodiva – Konzervatorsko biološko društvo, Kettejeva 1, SI-6000 Kopar, Slovenija*Kontakt adresa, e-mail: mavric@mbss.orgSAŽETAK  Primjerak Aplysiopsis elegans (deshayes, 1853) je pronađen tijekom ronjenja na plaži u Rovinju (Istra, Hrvatska) u pojasu crvene alge Halopteris scoparia na plitkoj stjenovitoj obali. prethodni nalazi ove vrste su zabilježeni na samo nekoliko lokaliteta u sjeverno-zapadnom sre-dozemlju i Arhipelagu kanarskog otočja. Ključne riječi: prvi nalaz, Aplysiopsis elegans, Jadransko more 

Prvi nalaz Aplysiopsis elegans (Deshayes1853) (Gastropoda Opisthobranchia: Saccoglossa) u Jadranskom moru

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