Cymbulia parvidentata Pelseneer, 1888a
Overview
This is a shell-less pteropod with a large gelatinous slipper-like pseudoconch, 3.5 cm long. The pseudoconch is laterally compressed in the middle. The wings are disc-shaped and the visceral mass forms a dark nucleus embedded in the perfectly transparent pseudoconch. The pseudoconch is blunt and covered with a few cusps. It is an elegant swimmer that feeds on microplankton by means of a mucous web. It lives in the warm waters probably of all oceans (Cymbulia parvidentata wing).
Taxonomic Description
The dorsally sharp pointed pseudoconch does not have large spines at the border of the excavation. The spines are less developed than in Cymbulia peroni with five rows of tubercles at the oral side, at the other side dorsally three and ventrally four rows. The ventral end of the pseudoconch is hollow without spines. The rows of spines at the underside are not straight and parallel but sinuous. The slender pseudoconch exhibits a clear constriction in the middle. (Cymbulia parvidentata). The soft parts are similar to those of C. peroni. The Cymbulia parvidentata radula is degenerated (Cymbulia parvidentata deviating radula).
The pseudoconch is small, usually not longer than 35 mm.
Juveniles
A special description is not available.
Reproduction
This species is a protandric hermaphrodite.
Ecology
This species is phytophagous.
Distribution
The five records for this species are too small a number to make any conclusion on distribution other than this is a cosmopolitan species, see the Cymbulia parvidentata map.
Types
Cymbulia parvidentata Pelsener, 1888a: 99, pl. 2, figs. 12-13.
Types should be present in BMNH but are lost.