Contribución al estudio de la familia Pleurobranchidae Gray, 1827 (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia) en la Macaronesia y las islas Galápagos

Abstract

All the species of the genres Pleurobranchus Cuvier, 1804 and Berthellina Gardiner, 1936 described or cited in the Macaronesia are revised. The records of Pleurobranchus areolatus Mörch, 1863 in the Canaries are transferred to Pleurobranchus crossei Vayssiere, 1896. Pleurobranchus lowei Watson, 1897, from Madeira, is synonymized with Berthellina edwardsi (Vayssiere, 1896). The name Pleurobranchus garciagomezi Cervera, Cattaneo & Edmunds, 1996 is applied to the specimens, endemic to Cape Verde, that match in the chromatic pattern of the holotype of this species. Pleurobranchus wirtzi, new species, is described to include the rest of the specimens from other islands in the Macaronesia, identified in the literature as P. garciagomezi. Two new species of Berthella Blainville, 1828 and Berthellina are described from Cape Verde and compared with two Caribbean taxa, Pleurobranchus evelinae Thompson, 1978 and Berthellina quadridens (Mörch, 1863). New anatomical data are given on the latter. In addition, the Pleurobranchidae from Galapagos obtained in the expeditions organized by the “Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Tenerife” in Tenerife is studied, given that two Atlantic species, Pleurobranchus areolatus and Berthellina engeli Gardiner, 1936, have been recorded there.