Bermudella mica
Creators: name: Paz-Sedano, Sofia
name: Cobb, Gary
name: Gosliner, Terrence M.
name: Pola, Marta
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Mollusca
Gastropoda
Nudibranchia
Goniodorididae
Bermudella
Bermudella mica

description: Bermudella mica (Ortea & Moro, 2014)
(Figs. 1D, 2E‒F, 4A‒D)
Okenia mica Ortea & Moro, 2014 in Ortea et al. (2014): 58; Figs. 7‒8.
Okenia mica — Paz-Sedano et al. (2024).
Material examined. MNCN 15.05 /94473, Puerto de Corralejo, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain, 16 August 2015, col. by P. Pérez, 96% EtOH, dissected (SEM: radula); MNCN 15.05 /94474, Puerto de Corralejo, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain, 16 August 2015, col. by P. Pérez, 96% EtOH, dissected (SEM: radula); MNCN 15.05 /94475, Puerto de Corralejo, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain, 16 August 2015, col. by P. Pérez, 96% EtOH; MNCN 15.05 /94476, Las Teresitas, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 19 April 2004, col. by L. Moro, dissected (SEM: radula, labial cuticle).
External morphology and color pattern (Fig. 1D). Preserved specimens 3–7 mm in length. External morphology and color pattern of our specimens match with the original description (Ortea et al. 2014).
Foregut anatomy (Figs. 2E, 4A‒D). Buccal bulb thick and muscular (Fig. 2E). Rounded and wide, dorsal buccal pump expanding posteriorly. Radular sac located ventrally. Thin esophagus begins from buccal bulb behind buccal pump. Elongated salivary glands located at junction of esophagus with buccal bulb. Nervous system covers this junction. Esophagus continues posteriorly and inserts into digestive-hermaphroditic gland. Labial cuticle surrounds lips and expands within buccal pump. Inside buccal bulb, thin labial cuticle bears honey-comb elements (Fig. 4A). Radular formula 21–25 × 1.1.0.1.1. Inner lateral tooth robust, with single large cusp, and wide, rectangular base (Fig. 4B–C). Cusp large and pointed, with a masticatory margin bearing 11–14 wide, pointed denticles (Figs. 4B–C). Denticles from middle to outer part of masticatory margin larger and wider than denticles from middle to inner part. Outer base ends in somewhat prominent wing, with rounded edge. Outer lateral tooth (Figs. 4B‒C) much smaller, rectangular ending with two thin hooks in superior part (Fig. 4D).
Reproductive system (Fig. 2F). Reproductive system located in anterior third of body. Thin hermaphroditic duct begins at ovotestis, located inside digestive-hermaphroditic gland. Hermaphroditic duct expands into large, kidney-shape ampulla. Postampullary duct emerges from ampulla and divides into two, thin ducts. Short oviduct enters inside female gland mass. Second duct connects with first portion of wide and elongated prostate. Prostate become a long and very thin vas deferens. Vas deferens continues and expands to short ejaculatory duct. Penial spines not seen. Vagina wide and large, two or three times wider than vas deferens. Vagina connects with oval bursa copulatrix. In last quarter of vagina arises a duct that divides into two thin ducts. One duct connects with pyriform receptaculum seminis. Second duct corresponds with thin uterine duct, that enters female gland mass.
Distribution. Canary Island, Tenerife (Ortea et al. 2014; present study) and Fuerteventura (present study).
Natural history. The species has been found in bryozoan, up to 4 m depth (Ortea et al. 2014).
Remarks. The species B. mica has been reported only from the Canary Islands, where it seems to be endemic (Ortea et al. 2014, 2015; Pontes 2023). The external morphology was well described in the original description, but details of the internal anatomy were not included. Here, we describe in detail the internal anatomy of B. mica. Bermudella mica is similar to B. evelinae. However, Ortea et al. (2014) indicated that B. mica has three tubercles in the back, instead of the single tubercle present in B. evelinae. Ortea et al. (2014) described the radula with an outer lateral tooth lacking hooked cusps. However, our specimens have a thin pointed cusp. Moreover, the denticles on the cusp of the inner lateral tooth is also different, the specimens studied have 11-14 while specimens studied by Ortea et al. (2014) had 18. The specimens that they studied measured 3 mm length, and the authors did not examine the radula under the scanning electron microscope. It is possible that this cusp went unnoticed by the authors using light microscopy, due to its small size.
description: Published as part of Paz-Sedano, Sofia, Cobb, Gary, Gosliner, Terrence M. & Pola, Marta, 2024, Filling gaps in the knowledge of Goniodorididae taxa (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Nudibranchia) with description of seven new species, pp. 523-547 in Zootaxa 5443 (4) on page 530, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5443.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/11064312