Author: Feliciano, Malaquias, Stout, Brenzinger, Gosliner & Valdes, 2021

Order: Acteonoidea  Family: Aplustridae

Maximum Size: 20 mm

Sightings: Sunshine Coast

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Micromelo barbarae Feliciano, Malaquias, Stout, Brenzinger, Gosliner & Valdes, 2021

External features assisting to differentiate from its congeners:
– Yellow-orange marginal band followed by submarginal diffuse aqua band
– Large, oval or compound white patches, widely spaced
– Slightly wavy posterior margin to headshield lobes
– Protoconch with black marking. This, however, is often difficult to discern as the protoconch is located on the depressed apex of the shell. Darker markings around the edge of the depressed apex itself are often misconstrued as this feature.

This site originally listed a single Micromelo species – Micromelo undatus (Bruguiere, 1972). Molecular sequencing and morphological work, (Feliciano et al, 2021), has revealed a number of cryptic Micromelo species and demonstrating that Micromelo undatus is restricted to an Atlantic distribution. Our sightings of Micromelo on the Sunshine Coast include three of those cryptic species:
Micromelo barbarae
Micromelo scriptus
Micromelo guamensis

(Updated May 2022)

References:
– Feliciano, K., Malaquias, M. A. E., Stout, C., Brenzinger, B., Gosliner, T. M. & Valdes, A. (2021). Molecular and morphological analyses reveal pseudocryptic diversity in Micromelo undatus (Bruguiere, 1792) (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Aplustridae). Systematics and Biodiversity, 19(7): 834–858