The Lurid Limenandra

There are six described species of Limenandra (Aeolidiidae family), those aeolid nudibranchs best known and admired for their colourful pattern of concentric circles down the length of the dorsum. Their general distributions (others may be known) are:

Limenandra barnosii Carmona, Pola, Gosliner & Cervera, 2014 – Indo-Pacific
Limenandra confusa Carmona, Pola, Gosliner & Cervera, 2014 – Western & Eastern Pacific
Limenandra evanescenti Fernandez-Simon & Moles in Cunha et al., 2023. Type locality Maldives (Few records)
Limenandra fusiformis (Baba, 1949) – Indo-Pacific
Limenandra nodosa Haefelfinger & Stamm, 1958 – Mediterranean, Atlantic (including the Caribbean)
Limenandra rosanae Carmona, Pola, Gosliner & Cervera, 2014 – Indo-Pacific

Three species of the genus are illustrated here.

Limenandra barnosii – Very elongate body, smooth recurved dorsoventrally flattened cerata, rhinophores with posterior papillae, pink/red tips to all appendages.

Limenandra confusa – Cerata highly papillate, rhinophores sparsely covered posteriorly with elongate papillae.

Limenandra fusiformis – Cerata smooth and recurved, rhinophores densely papillate posteriorly. Images Left: Julie Schubert, Right: Terry Farr.

The external features in the redescription of the genus by Carmona, Pola, Gosliner & Cervera, 2014 is quoted herewith:
“.… body thin and elongate. Tentaculiform foot corners. Rhinophores papillate; the papillae elongate, irregular in size and sometimes bifurcated. Colouration pattern of concentric circles on the notum. Cerata in 8–25 rows. They are fusiform, rounded and may be papillate.”

Until the Carmona et al., 2013 paper published the molecular sequencing results, showing Limenandra to be monophyletic, many authors believed Limenandra to be a junior synonym of Baeolidia. However, it has been shown they are not even sister to that genus. One surprising finding though was that Limenandra was nestled in with what had previously been thought “Cerberilla” species, but that were undescribed I might add. More work needed here for sure.

The Limenandra genus was raised by Haefelfinger & Stamm, 1958 with the description of Limenandra nodosa (the type species) and the transfer of Baeolidia fusiformis Baba, 1949 to Limenandra, though they may still be recorded in many previous identification guides under Baeolidia. Limenandra nodosa (Baeolidia nodosa) was long thought to have a wide geographical distribution but that arrangement too, has been put to rest with the description of three new Limenandra species by Carmona et al., 2014 from the Indo-Pacific. Of the three new species, Limenandra confusa is the most similar to, and being referred to, as a cryptic species of Limenandra nodosa from the Mediterranean & amphi-Atlantic.

External characteristics such as whether the cerata are smooth or papillate, dorsoventrally flattened or fusiform, recurved or not and also the density of rhinophore papillae, vary among the species of the genus.

All species of the genus are believed to hunt and feed upon small sea anemones.

David A. Mullins – September 2024

References:
–  Baba, K. (1949). Opisthobranchia of Sagami Bay collected by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, 194pp., 50 pls.

– Haefelfinger, H. R. & Stamm, R. A. (1958) Limenandra nodosa gen. et spec. nov. (Nudibranchia, Aeolidiidae prop.), un opisthobranche nouveau de la Me ́diterrane ́e. Vie Milieu 9:418–423.

– Carmona, L., Pola, M., Gosliner, T. M. & Cervera, J. L. (2013). A tale that morphology fails to tell: A molecular phylogeny of Aeolidiidae (Aeolidida, Nudibranchia, Gastropoda). PLoS ONE. 8(5): e63000.

– Carmona, L., Pola, M., Gosliner, T. M. & Cervera, J. L. (2014). The end of a long controversy: systematics of the genus Limenandra (Mollusca: Nudibranchia: Aeolidiidae). Helgoland Marine Research, 68: 37-48.

– Gosliner, T. M., Valde ́s, A ́. & Behrens, D. W. (2018). Nudibranch & Sea Slug Identification – Indo-Pacific, 2nd Edition. New World Publications, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.

– Cunha, T. J., Fernández-Simón, J., Petrula, M., Giribet, G. & Moles, J. (2023) Photographic Checklist, DNA Barcoding, and New Species of Sea Slugs and Snails from the Faafu Atoll, Maldives (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia and Vetigastropoda). Diversity 2023, 15, 219.

– MolluscaBase eds. (2024). MolluscaBase. Limenandra Haefelfinger & Stamm, 1958. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=591274 on 2024-09-06