Aplysia ghanimii, Golestani & Crocetta & Padula & Camacho-García & Langeneck & Poursanidis & Pola & Yokeş & Cervera & Jung & Gosliner & Araya & Hooker & Schrödl & Valdés, 2019

APLYSIA GHANIMII View in CoL SP. NOV.

( FIGS 10A–E, 11A–B, 12A–C, 12G–I, 13A–C)

Type material: Holotype: Stocking Is., Bahamas, 18 January 2007, specimen 6 mm preserved length, leg. A. DuPont LACM 3643 (ex. CPIC 00040 , isolate HG22).

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:673B6957-9CDF-470E-89BB-EDBD58C45ECF

Additional material examined: West Palm Beach , Florida, USA, 14April 2013,onespecimen 7 mmpreserved length, leg. A. Dimitris ( CPIC 01376 , isolate HG30); 14 April 2013, one specimen 9 mm preserved length, leg. A. Dimitris ( CPIC 01375 , isolate HG29). Stocking Is., Exumas, Bahamas, 19 January 2007, one specimen 13 mm preserved length, leg. A. DuPont ( CPIC 00041 , isolate HG10); 11 February 2010, one specimen 7 mm preserved length, leg. A. DuPont ( CPIC 00229 , isolate HG4); 8 January 2010, one specimen 3 mm preserved length, leg. A. DuPont ( CPIC 00226 , isolate HG3); 2-m depth, 19 January 2007, one specimen, leg. A. DuPont ( CASIZ 175666 ) . South Madagascar, 1-m depth, 13 May 2010, one specimen, leg. Atimo Vatae Expedition ( CASIZ 194076 ) ; 7-m depth, 16 May 2010, eight specimens, leg. Atimo Vatae Expedition ( CASIZ 194433 ) .

Description: Morphological characteristics as in species complex 2 description. Radular formula 28 × 3.7.1.7. 3 in a 7-mm preserved length specimen from the Bahamas (CPIC 00229, isolate H4) and 33 × 4.9.1.9. 4 in a 7-mm preserved length specimen from Florida (CPIC 01376, isolate HG30).

Etymology: Named after Hessam Ghanimi in appreciation for his help with this manuscript,

including primer design and sequencing a number of specimens.

Range: Tropical and subtropical Atlantic and western Indian Ocean.

Remarks

Aplysia ghanimii is genetically distinct from other, here examined, species of A. parvula s.l. The specimens included in this species form a well-supported clade ( Fig. 2A) and the ABGD analysis recovers it as a distinct species ( Table 2). Morphologically, A. ghanimii is similar to other animals included in species complex 2 in being characterized by having slender and elongate bodies, much wider in visceral region and short penises with two papillae ( Table 3). These characteristics make animals in species complex 2 easily identifiable and distinguishable from other species previously assigned to A. parvula . A review of the literature reveals that no available names can be applied to this species with certainty, thus we here propose the new name A. ghanimii for it.

Animals from Bermuda illustrated by Jensen & Clark (1986: pl. 12, fig. 6) are externally similar to specimens from the Bahamas here examined and probably belong to Aplysia ghanimii , but this needs to be confirmed with molecular data.

Aplysia ghanimii View in CoL is the only species of A. parvula View in CoL s.l. found in two distinct ocean basins. We have been unable to find consistent genetic differences between Atlantic and western Indian Ocean animals. The haplotype network analysis ( Fig. 3B) shows that similar haplotypes are shared among these two ocean basins, but no identical haplotypes are shared. Thus, it is unclear whether the current distribution is the result of past dispersal or whether gene flow is maintained between these two oceans. In any scenario, South Africa may have played a role as a stepping stone in dispersal between ocean basins. Aplysia parvula View in CoL s.l. has been reported in both temperate and tropical South African waters ( Gosliner 1987; Zsilavecz 2007). However, we have been unable to sequence specimens from South Africa, which is why we are not certain which species occurs in this region.