Akera bullata

Akera bullata
drawing of Akera bullata
shells of Akera bullata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Euopisthobranchia clade Aplysiomorpha
Superfamily:	Akeroidea
Family:	Akeridae
Genus:	Akera
Species:	A. bullata
Binomial name
Akera bullata O. F. Müller, 1776[1]
Synonyms
Possibly Aaera bullata[2][3] Acera bullata (Müller O.F., 1776)[4] Acera elegans Locard, 1886 Aceras elegans Locard, 1886 Akera flexilis Brown, 1844 Bulla akera Gmelin, 1791 Bulla elastica Danilo & Sandri, 1856 Bulla farrani Norman, 1890 Bulla fragilis Lamarck, 1822 Bulla hanleyi Adams A. in Sowerby G.B. II, 1850 Bulla norwegica Bruguière, 1792 Bulla resiliens Donovan, 1801 Eucampe donovani Leach, 1847 (substitute name for Bulla akera)

Akera bullata is a species of sea snail (or sea slug), a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Akeridae, a family that is related to the sea hares.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]} This species is the only European representative of the genus Akera.

Distribution

This species occurs from Norway to the Canaries, and also in the Mediterranean.^[12][13][14]

Ecology

This is a herbivorous bottom dweller (up to 370 m deep), which feeds on seagrasses in the genera Zostera and Posidonia.

Description

The body has a maximum length of about 6 cm. Its color varies from gray to orange, with white or dark specks. Its fragile and smooth shell is white or brown. This sea hare is not an agile swimmer. It uses its broad parapodia (fleshy protrusions), held together funnelwise above the head, to paddle away when disturbed.^{[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}

Synonyms

Acera bullata is an orthographic variant^[4] with considerable currency.

The NLBIF lists a large number of synonyms in addition to the above; including: Bulla akera (Gmelin, J.F., 1791),^[23] Bulla norwegica (Bruguière, J.G., 1789),^[23] Bulla canaliculata (Olivi, 1792), Bulla resiliens (Donovan, E., 1801),^[23] Bulla fragilis (Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de, 1822),^[23] Akera flexilis (Brown, 1844), Bulla hanleyi (Adams A. in Sowerby G.B. II, 1850/1855),^[23] Eucampe donovani (Leach, W.E., 1852),^[23] Bulla elastica (Sandri & Danilo, 1856), Acera bullata var. nana (Jeffreys, 1867), Acera elegans (Locard, 1886), Bulla farrani (Norman, 1890), Bulla globosa (Cantraine, F.J., 1840),^[23][24] Akera tenuis (Brusina, S., 1866)^[23] and Akera farrani (Winckworth, R., 1932).^{[21][23][25][26]}

References

• Müller, O.F. (1776). Zoologica Danicae Prodromus seu Animalium Daniae et Norvegiae indigenarum characters, nomine, et synonyma imprimis popularium. Havniae. XXXII, 274 pp., page(s): 242

Further reading

• Proposed use of the Plenary Powers for the purpose of securing that the name bullata Muller (O. F.), 1776, as published in the combination Akera bullata, shall be the oldest available name for the species currently so known (Class Gastropoda).
• Ecology and taxonomic status of the aplysiomorph Akera bullata in the British Isles.
• The marine fauna of the Sizewell area 1: brackish lagoons.
• Akera bullata Mueller O.F., 1792 in the southeastern Mediterranean (Israel).
• Marine invertebrates.
• Phylogenetic analysis of learning-related neuromodulation in molluscan mechanosensory neurons.
• Die Conchylien des Mittelmeers. Band ii. Mollusca cephala.
• Hayward, P.J., Wigham, G.D. & N. Yonow, 1990. Mollusca I: Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, and Gastropoda. In: The Marine Fauna of the British Isles and North-West Europe. (ed. P.J. Hayward & J.S. Ryland). Clarendon Press, Oxford: 628-730.
• Poppe, G.T. & Y. Goto, 1991. European Seashells. Vol. I. 352 pp. Wiesbaden/Verlag Christa Hemmen.
• Seaward, D.R., 1990. Distribution of the marine molluscs of north west Europe. Nature Conservancy Council.
• Sowerby, G.B., 1859: Illustrated Index of British Shells. London.
• Thompson, T.E., 1988. Molluscs: Benthic Opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Synopses of the British fauna (NS), 8: 1-356.