''Biuve fulvipunctata'', the white-speckled headshield slug, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some Marine biology, marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial Slug, slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are Sea snail, sea snails (marine gastropod moll ...

or headshield slug, a marine

opisthobranch Opisthobranchs () is a now informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping. Euopistho ...

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

in the family

Aglajidae Aglajidae is a family of often colorful, medium-sized, sea slugs, marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks. These are not nudibranchs; instead they are headshield slugs, in the clade Cephalaspidea The order Cephalaspidea, also known as the ...

. This species is widespread in the Indian and Pacific Oceans but has invaded the Mediterranean Sea since 1961, despite apparently being absent from the Red Sea until recorded there in the 21st century. It is the only species in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus ''Biuve''.

Etymology

The former generic name ''Chelidonura'' means "swallow-tail" referring to the two lobes which extend out from the back of the mantle shield, while the specific name ''fulvipunctata'' is a compound meaning tawny or dull yellow (''fulvus'') and spotted (''punctata'').

Distribution

''Biuve fulvipunctata'' is widely distributed in the western Pacific from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

west to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and the east coast of Australia and

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland Port ...

, through

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and the tropical Indian Ocean to the

Mascarene Islands The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their na ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is rare in the Mediterranean where it was first recorded in 1961 off

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

but it has now been recorded off the

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. It was recorded in the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

for the first time in 2005, most likely as a result of anti-Lessepsian migration, although it is possible that ''B. fulvipunctata'' entered the Mediterranean through the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

from the Red Sea. The most likely source of ''B. fulvipunctata'' reaching the Mediterranean is transport on shipping, the original discovery site of ''B. fulvipunctata'' in the Mediterranean being a former traditional boat building locale in southern Turkey which is popular with recreational yacht sailors. It was reported from Canary Islands in 2016.

Description

An elongated, somewhat cylindrical gastropod, ''B. fulvipunctata'' has an internal, very thin shell. Its body is divided into a cephalic shield and a visceral hump which is, partly covered by a posterior mantle shield. The cephalic shield has its anterior edge wider than the posterior point and it is roughly divided. The eyes are situated on the front of the head and almost invisible as they are obscured by the dorsal surface. The mouth is flanked on either side by a mound which is covered in sensory bristles. The animal's foot is expanded into two lateral

parapodia In invertebrates, the term parapodium ( Gr. ''para'', beyond or beside + ''podia'', feet; : parapodia) refers to lateral outgrowths or protrusions from the body. Parapodia are predominantly found in annelids, where they are paired, unjointed late ...

. The two long and symmetrical parapodia fold over and partially cover the dorsal surface. A pair of tapering lobes extend from the rear of the mantle shield, the left one is longer while the right lobe is much shorter. This species typically has a background colour of black or dark brown with a bluish sheen marked with yellowish or orange spots, although some specimens are reddish brown with small yellow spots. A distinguishing feature is a white mark shaped like the letter w across the anterior edge of the head, although this may only be partially visible on some specimens, and a white or pale yellow crescent-shaped spot at the posterior edge of the head shield. They are normally between in length and in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

they do not normally exceed but in the Mediterranean specimens of have been recorded.

Biology

The preferred habitat is rocky or sandy areas with large amounts of algal debris from the low water mark to in depth; it can occur in both sheltered and exposed sites. It is nocturnal and, like species in the genus '' Chelidonura'', it is known to feed on small

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine Annelid, annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called c ...

worms and

acoelomate The coelom (or celom) is the main body cavity in many animals and is positioned inside the body to surround and contain the digestive tract and other organs. In some animals, it is lined with mesothelium. In other animals, such as molluscs, it r ...

flatworm Platyhelminthes (from the Greek language, Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") is a Phylum (biology), phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, Segmentation (biology), ...

s, prey is detected using the

sensory Sensory may refer to: Biology * Sensory ecology, how organisms obtain information about their environment * Sensory neuron, nerve cell responsible for transmitting information about external stimuli * Sensory perception, the process of acquiri ...

mounds on either side of the mouth. The eggs are laid in strings covered in mucus, debris adheres to the mucus strengthening and camouflaging the strings of eggs. In laboratory conditions the eggs hatch in four days. The few specimens found in the Mediterranean have been found under stones at depth and on rocky substrate at in depth.

Taxonomy

This species was originally placed in the genus ''Chelidonura'' but in 2017 the family ''Aglajidae'' was reclassified after a number of genera, including ''Chelidonura'', were found to be

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

and this species was placed in the new monotypic genus ''Biuve''. Abstract

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q13462511 Aglajidae Gastropods described in 1938