Pleurehdera cf pellucida is one of the more common pleurobranchs in the Marshalls. Specimens have been found under rocks and in ledges at night on lagoon reefs, pinnacles, and the seaward reef at Enewetak, Kwajalein, and Rongelap Atolls. Depths have ranged from 2 to about 15 meters. Lengths of 31 measured specimens ranged from 6 to 18mm. Formerly considered Berthella stellata, recent molecular and morphological work has split that species into at least eight, with B. stellata restricted to the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. More recent DNA work has moved the species to Pleurehdera. Ours are very similar externally to Pleurehdera pellucida from Hawaii, but it will take a closer look at the anatomy and DNA to determine if it is in fact that species. These were first reported in the Marshalls from Enewetak Atoll as Berthella pellucida by Willan (1984).
This pair was under a rock on a shallow lagoon reef on 15 August 2010.
A close up of the rolled tube siphons of the previous individual.
Another from a Kwajalein Atoll midlagoon pinnacle, under a rock at a depth of about 8m.
An egg mass.
Created 2 February 2007
Updated 13 February 2024