Elysia scops Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967

Krug, Patrick J., Vendetti, Jann E. & Valdés, Ángel, 2016, Molecular and morphological systematics of Elysia Risso, 1818 (Heterobranchia: Sacoglossa) from the Caribbean region, Zootaxa 4148 (1), pp. 1-137 : 68-69

Elysia scops Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967

(Not figured)

Elysia cauze scops Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus 1967: 28 –29, figs. 26–27 (Type locality: Biscayne Bay, Florida), nomen dubium. Elysia scops Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967 — Valdés et al. 2006: 72 –73.

Type material. Elysia cauze scops— 2 syntypes (USNM 576283, USNM 576273).

Material examined. No specimens available.

Live animal. No specimens available.

External anatomy. Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus (1967) described Elysia cauze scops as a subspecies of E. cauze with a similar coloration to E. cauze cauze : “in part brownish, in part greenish grey.” A description from the collector included few additional details: “color dark greenish; papillate surface.” The border of the parapodia are variable in color, with one specimens having black only on the anterior end, another having the entire border black, and two more with no black pigment on the border of the parapodia. Examination of two syntypes revealed an elongated renopericardial complex running almost to the tail, and inner parapodial surfaces lined with a network of branching dorsal vessels. Neither specimen could be distinguished externally from E. subornata .

Internal anatomy. Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus (1967: fig. 27) illustrated a single radular tooth of this species, with a elongate, thick cusp bearing numerous minute denticles, “V”-shaped housing depression, and short tooth base.

Reproduction and development. No data available.

Host ecology. No data available.

Phylogenetic relationships. No specimens available.

Range. Florida ( Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus 1967; Valdés et al. 2006).

Remarks. Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus (1967) described E. scops from Florida as a subspecies of E. cauze because of some differences in the radular morphology, namely the size of the denticles and the shape of the ascus. However, a few years later Er. Marcus & Ev. Marcus (1970) changed their mind and no longer considered two subspecies in E. cauze . Valdés et al. (2006) illustrated a specimen that they identified as E. scops based on external similarities to the original description. The specimen illustrated in Valdés et al. (2006) is lost and we do not have access to additional specimens resembling the original description of E. scops .

The status of E. scops remains uncertain. External features suggest it could be a synonym of E. subornata , but the radular teeth appear to be shorter. It also resembles E. hamanni n. sp., described below, but the coloration, part brownish part green described by Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus (1967) is different from the pale green with a pinkish tinge of E. hamanni n. sp. It is also possible that E. scops is a distinct, uncommon species.