Petalifera petalifera (Rang, 1828)
Caribbean, Canarias, Mediterranean, Red Sea, Australia… Grazer on seagrass in the infralittoral.
Original taxon: Aplysia petalifera.
Synonyms: depressa, ungulifera…
The animal can reach a size of 4cm; colour green to brown, according to the plant the animal lives on.
 
Above: damaged shell collected at 10-12m deep, Vignola Bay, Marina di Davia, Corbara, NW. Corsica. 1,7mm.
Original pictures provided by S. Clanzig (FR).
– (CC BY-NC-SA) –
The animal in S. Rang: Histoire naturelle des Aplysiens,
Paris 1828, plate V fig.1.

« …mantle plain and greenish; dorsal aperture very small and a little to the right of the median line […] Shell thin, inferiorly covered with a fairly consistent, very broad and concave epidermis; the head is very small and slightly curved towards the notch […] This species […] is distinguished by its beautiful green color and smooth skin and so thin that the whiteness of its shell is noticeable through its transparency […] It comes from the seas of Nice, from where she was sent to the Museum of Natural History by Mr. Risso. » – Op. cit. p.52.
Above and below: calanque de Saména, Montredon, south of Marseille, Provence, S. France. Animal wrapped around a leaf. Original pictures provided by S. Le Bris for iNaturalist.
– (CC BY-NC) –
Other specimen, extended.
Saména Cove again. The dorsal aperture is clearly visible.
Original picture provided by S. Le Bris for iNaturalist.
– (CC BY-NC) –
Internal shell of an adult from the Saronic Gulf, SE. Greece. 2,95mm.
18m deep, on the seaweed Sphaerococcus coronopifolius Stackhouse, 1797. Otranto, Lecce, Puglia, S. Italy.
Original pictures provided by F. Vitale (IT) – (CC BY-NC-ND).
Find this image and others on the site salentosommerso.it.
Shallow water, on Posidonia leaf, off Pourrousset Cove, Rade d’Agay, east of Saint-Raphaël, Var, SE. France. Notice the depigmented area around the eye and along the anterior tentacle. Original pictures provided by P. Corbrion for iNaturalist – (CC BY-NC-SA).

— back to Aplysiidae —