Berthella vialactea Ghanimi, Schrödl, Goddard, Ballesteros, Gosliner & Valdés, 2020 ( Fig. 3D )

Delgado, Marlon, Freire, Fúlvio Aurélio de Morais, Meirelles, Carlos Augusto Oliveira de, Padula, Vinicius, Bahia, Juliana & Brandão, Simone Nunes, 2022, Sea slugs (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) from Rio Grande do Norte, Northeastern Brazil, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 62, pp. 1-26 : 12

19. Berthella vialactea Ghanimi, Schrödl, Goddard, Ballesteros, Gosliner & Valdés, 2020 ( Fig. 3D)

Material examined: Praia de Pirambúzios, Nísia Floresta, 13.II.2010, one specimen (lost), 8 mm (body length). Praia de Baia Formosa, Baia Formosa, 05.VII.2009, two specimens, 10-14 mm (body length), leg. M. Delgado) ( MZSP 97065; GEEFAA 304).

Description: Elongate oval body, 8-14 mm body length. Mantle broad and smooth covering the foot. Dorsum translucent white or milk white, with numerous small white opaque spots. Near the center of the dorsum there is one transversal, white, opaque bar with variably shaped pattern resembling a " T ″, "Y″ or irregular shaped. Large oral veil, trapezoidal, translucent-white with some small white opaque spots.Retractile rhinophores emerging between mantle and oral veil, rolled and arcuated. Mid-dorsally covered by the smooth notum, whitish coloration, protected by the inner shell. Gills on right side of the body and located between the inferior part of the mantle and the superior part of the foot. Inner shell oval, convex, covering part of body and translucent white.

Geographic distribution: Western Atlantic: Martinique ( Ghanimi et al., 2020) and Brazil (Rio Grande do Norte – present study).

Remarks: Similar in color and shape to Berthella nebula but with translucent shell ( Ghanimi et al., 2020).

Figures

Figure 3. Heterobranchsea slugsfrom Rio Grandedo Norte.(A) Phyllaplysiaengeli (6mm – GEEFAA342);(B)Berthela agassizii(11mm –MZSP 97047);(C) Berthella nebula (7 mm– GEEFAA 1307);(D)Berthella vialactea(14mm – GEEFAA 304);(E) Berthellinaignis (10 mm– GEEFAA 335);(F) Cadlina rumia(10mm – GEEFAA311); (G) Felimida clenchi (9 mm – MZSP 97070); (H) Felimare sp. (13 mm – GEEFAA 313); (I) Tyrinna evelinae (18 mm – GEEFAA 1305); (J) Diaulula greeleyi (20 mm – GEEFAA 259a); (K) Discodoris branneri (70 mm – MZSP 97063); (L) Geitodoris pusae (14 mm – GEEFAA 338); (M.1) Sclerodoris prea (33 mm – GEEFAA 1314); (M.2) Sclerodoris prea (35 mm – GEEFAA1314); (N) Taringa iemanja (25 mm – MZSP 97062);(O) Taringa telopia (18 mm – MZSP 97071).