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Additional Photos
on black
underside
detail
shell
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GALLERY
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Petalifera ramosa Baba,
1959
Maximum size: 52 mm.
Identification:
This
sea hare can appear long and slender when crawling or broad and
ovate when resting. It has numerous round to conical tubercles on its
notum and, in Hawaii, it ranges from translucent yellow to
translucent yellow-brown. White granules are embedded in the notum with
some forming a longitudinal medial line. The larger tubercles are tan
and more numerous, the smaller ones purple and ringed with purple. Some
of the tubercles have papillae extending from
their tips which may become dendritic (or more elaborate) with age. The
four
tubercles on the parapodia enclosing the mantle cavity are usually the
most intricately branched.
Natural history:
Petalifera ramosa
is a moderately rare nocturnal species. It has been found in
moderately exposed rocky habitats and in moderately protected Halimeda kanaloana beds at depths
of 6-33.5
m (20-110 ft). It has also been reported from the intertidal (Gosliner,
et. al. 1985). It is sometimes seen in the water column at night
swimming by extreme dorso-ventral flexing, the head and tail touching
with each undulation.
Distribution:
Maui: circumtropical.
Taxonomic notes:
It
was first recorded in Hawaii from the Kewalo Basin, Oahu by Terry
Gosliner in Aug. 1973.
Photo: PF: 35
mm: Makena, Maui; May 16, 1995.
Observations and comments:
Note
1: ( )
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