Published December 31, 2010 | Version v1

Elysia Risso 1818

Description

Elysia Risso, 1818

Type species: Notarchus timidus Risso, 1818, by monotypy.

Comments and diagnosis. In spite of several older diagnoses of the genus, Jensen (1996) could not identify any apomorphic characters which are shared by all species referred to the genus Elysia, and this is still valid. Nevertheless, recent phylogenetic analyses based on several molecular markers (Händeler et al. 2009) indicate the monophyly of the genus Elysia. We refer here to one of the most recent descriptions (Jensen 1993) indicating the most prominent character for Elysia: pharynx without pharyngeal pouches (although this is shared by many sacoglossan genera, except within the Plakobranchoidea). Furthermore Elysia species are described with long blade-shaped radular teeth with a median denticulate cutting edge (Bouchet 1984; Thompson & Jaklin, 1988; Gosliner 1995) and broad parapodia (Thompson 1973).

Notes

Published as part of Wägele, Heike, Stemmer, Kristina, Burghardt, Ingo & Händeler, Katharina, 2010, Two new sacoglossan sea slug species (Opisthobranchia, Gastropoda): Ercolania annelyleorum sp. nov. (Limapontioidea) and Elysia asbecki sp. nov. (Plakobranchoidea), with notes on anatomy, histology and biology, pp. 1-28 in Zootaxa 2676 on page 16, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.199203

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Risso
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Mollusca
Order
Sacoglossa
Family
Plakobranchidae
Genus
Elysia
Taxon rank
genus
Taxonomic concept label
Elysia Risso, 1818 sec. Wägele, Stemmer, Burghardt & Händeler, 2010

References

  • Risso, A. (1818) Memoire. Sur quelques gasteropodes nouveaux, nudibranches et tectibranches observees dans la Mer de Nice. Journal de Physique, de Chimie et d'Histoire Naturelle, 87, 368 - 377.
  • Jensen, K. (1996) Phylogenetic systematics and classification of the Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London B, 351, 91 - 122.
  • Handeler, K., Grzymbowski, Y., Krug, P. J. & Wagele, H. (2009) Functional chloroplasts in metazoan cells - a unique evolutionary strategy in animal life. Frontiers in Zoology, 6, 28.
  • Jensen, K. R. (1993) Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia) from Rottnest Island and central Western Australia. In: Wells, F. E., Walker, D. I., Kirkman, H. & Lethbridge, R. (Eds), The Marine Flora and Fauna of Rottnest Island, Western Australia. Proceedings of the 5 th International Marine Biology Workshop, 2. Western Australian Museum, Perth, pp. 207 - 253.
  • Bouchet, P. (1984) Les Elysiidae de Mediterranee (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia). Annales de l'Institute Oceanographique, Paris, 60, 19 - 28.
  • Thompson, T. E. & Jaklin, A. (1988) Eastern Mediterranean Opisthobranchia: Elysiidae (Sacoglossa = Ascoglossa). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 54, 59 - 69.
  • Gosliner, T. M. (1995) The genus Thuridilla (Opisthobranchia: Elysiidae) from the tropical Indo-Pacific, with a revision of the phylogeny and systematics of the Elysiidae. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 49, 1 - 54.
  • Thompson, T. E. (1973) Sacoglossan gastropod molluscs from Eastern Australia. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London, 40, 239 - 251.