Stylocheilus Explained

Stylocheilus is a genus of sea slugs, specifically sea hares, marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the family Aplysiidae, the sea hares.^{[1] [2]}

According to some authors this genus belongs in the family Dolabriferidae.

Species

Species in the genus Stylocheilus include:

• Stylocheilus polyomma (Mörch, 1863)
• Stylocheilus rickettsi (MacFarland, 1966)
• Stylocheilus striatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1832
  • Distribution : Indo-Pacific; intertidal, occurs up to 30 m depth
  • Length : 65 mm
  • Color : brownish, with blue spots; lined species, with dark longitudinal lines (as stated by its name striatus) and small eyespots, providing excellent camouflage.
  • Description : Feeds on blue-green algae; gives off a purple ink when disturbed.

Taxon inquirendum:

• Stylocheilus longicauda Quoy & Gaimard, 1824 - Blue-ring Sea Hare, Lemon Sea Hare (used to be called Stylocheilus citrina)
  • Distribution : circumtropical, Indo-West Pacific.
  • Color : bright yellow or green with bluish eyespots, no lines.
  • Description : This is one of the most specialized sea hares; elongate body with a long "tail" (as stated by its name longicauda), adapted for living on floating seaweed; feeds on Mermaid's Hair, blue-green algae of species Lynghya majuscula; at times, they are abundant, with several thousands crawling in the sand, traveling in chains ("snail trail") up to 10 m long

Species brought into synonymy:

• Stylocheilus citrinus (Rang, 1828) is a synonym of Stylocheilus longicauda (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825)
• Stylocheilus lineolatus Gould, 1852: synonym of Stylocheilus longicauda (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825)
• Stylocheilus quercinus Gould, 1852

References

• Rolán E., 2005. Malacological Fauna From The Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda

External links

• • Image of the Blue-ring Sea Hare
• 'Snail trail' of the Blue-ring Sea Hare
• Image of Stylocheilus striatus

Notes and References

1. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Stylocheilus Gould, 1852. Accessed on 2021-01-27.
2. Bazzicalupo, E.; Crocetta, F.; Gosliner, T. M.; Berteaux-Lecellier, V.; Camacho-García, Y. E.; Chandran, B. K. S.; Valdés, Á. (2020). Molecular and morphological systematics of Bursatella leachii de Blainville, 1817 and Stylocheilus striatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1832 reveal cryptic diversity in pantropically distributed taxa (Mollusca : Gastropoda : Heterobranchia). Invertebrate Systematics. 34: 535-568.