Baeolidia dela ( Er. Marcus & Ev. Marcus, 1960 )

Carmona, Leila, Pola, Marta, Gosliner, Terrence M. & Cervera, Juan Lucas, 2014, Review of Baeolidia, the largest genus of Aeolidiidae (Mollusca: Nudibranchia), with the description of five new species, Zootaxa 3802 (4), pp. 477-514 : 489

Baeolidia dela ( Er. Marcus & Ev. Marcus, 1960)

Berghia dela Er. Marcus & Ev. Marcus, 1960: 924 , Figs. 83–86.

Type locality. Addu-Atoll, Maldives Islands.

Type material. To our knowledge no type material exists.

Geographical distribution. So far, this species is only known from the Maldives Islands ( Er. Marcus & Ev. Marcus 1960).

External and internal morphology. Described and figured by Er. Marcus & Ev. Marcus (1960). No specimens available for the present study.

Remarks. Ernest & Eveline Marcus (1960) described Berghia dela , based on a single specimen. Since this specimen was already preserved, Er. Marcus & Ev. Marcus (1960) could not provide any information about the colouration of the living animal. However, they described and drew the papillate rhinophores, the jaws, the radular tooth and the penis ( Er. Marcus & Ev. Marcus 1960, figs. 84–86). The cerata were depicted as cylindrical and were arranged in arches plus rows. Recently, Carmona et al. (2014b) stated the main characteristics of the aeolidiid genus Berghia . One of the most important is the papillate morphology of the rhinophores, which can be easily distinguished from the rhinophorial ornamentation of Baeolidia (see general Discussion). Additionally, based on these authors’ investigations, Berghia is restricted to the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Therefore, according to these statements, Berghia dela should be transferred to Baeolidia . Although Er. Marcus & Ev. Marcus (1960) did not give any information about colouration, which is usually critical to recognize and separate species within Aeolidiidae (personal observation), the cylindrical cerata could be the distinctive feature that may help to identify this species if it is ever reported again.