Petalifera
{{Short description|Genus of molluscs}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = PetaliferaPetaliferaSeaSlugA.jpg
| image_caption = Petalifera petalifera
| taxon = Petalifera
| authority = Gray, 1847
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
}}
Petalifera is a genus of sea slugs or sea hares, marine gastropod mollusks belonging to the family Aplysiidae, the sea hares.
Some authors place this genus in a separate family Dolabriferidae. A new study, published in September 2004,{{cite journal | author=Annette Klussmann-Kolb| title= Phylogeny of the Aplysiidae (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia) with new aspects of the evolution of seahares| journal=Zoologica Scripta| year=2004| volume=33| issue=5| pages=439–462| doi= 10.1111/j.0300-3256.2004.00158.x| s2cid= 84214594}} has shown that the genus Petalifera is paraphyletic.
(Note: Gastropod taxonomy has been in flux for more than half a century, and this is especially true currently, because of new research in molecular phylogeny. Because of all the ongoing changes, different reliable sources can yield very different classifications.)
A more general description can be found on the page of the superfamily Aplysioidea.
Description
Species
- Petalifera albomaculata Farran, 1905 - Sri Lanka.Farran, G. P. (1905). Report on the opisthobranchiate Mollusca collected by Professor Herdman, at Ceylon, in 1902. In: Report to the government of Ceylon on the pearl oyster fisheries of the Gulf of Manaar. Part 3 Suppl. Rept., (21):329-364, pls. 1-6.
- Petalifera habei Eales, 1960 (synonym of Petalifera ramosa)
- Petalifera krusadalai O’Donoghue, 1930
- Petalifera petalifera Rang, 1828Rang S. (1828). Histoire Naturelle des Aplysiens. Paris, Firmin Didot 83 pp., 24 pl.
- Distribution : Cosmopolitan.
- Length : 2 to 4 cm
- Color : grayish to brown, with white longitudinal bands; almost translucent.
- Description : rather flat body; their color camouflages them when they are grazing on the brown alga Padina.
- Petalifera punctulata Tapparone-Canefri, 1874
- Distribution : Japan
- Petalifera qingdaonensis Lin, 1990
- Petalifera ramosa Baba, 1959
- Distribution : Western Pacific, Atlantic.
- Length : 5 to 7 cm
- Color : pink to pale brownish, with white rings over the body; almost translucent.
- Description : mantle covered with firm conical tubercles; the larger tubercles have terminal papillae with retractable filamentous branches; difficult to find, mostly hidden under the leaves of green alga Caulerpa.
Footnotes
{{Reflist}}
External links and references
- {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1093/mollus/62.2.243 | last1 = Martinez | first1 = E. | year = 1996 | title = On Petalifera petalifera (Rang, 1928) (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia): new anatomical and geographical data | journal = J. Molluscan Stud. | volume = 62 | issue = 2| pages = 243–250 | doi-access = free }}
- {{Cite journal | last1 = Baba | first1 = K. | year = 1959 | title = The Genus Petalifera and a new species, P. ramosa, from Japan | journal = Publ. Seto Mar. Biol. Lab. | volume = VII | issue = 3| pages = 41–43 }}
- [http://www.seaslugforum.net/petapeta.htm Photo of Petalifera petalifera]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20041205183636/http://www.philippine-sea-slugs.com/ANASPIDEA/Petalifera_ramosa_01.htm Photo of Petalifera ramosa]
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