Corolla calceola (Verrill, 1880)
[dubious species]
Overview
This is a shell-less pteropod with a large gelatinous slipper-like pseudoconch, 4 cm long. The pseudoconch is oval. The wings are disc-shaped and the visceral mass forms a dark nucleus embedded in the perfectly transparent pseudoconch. The pseudoconch is rounded at both sides and covered with warts. The proboscis is prominent. It is an elegant swimmer that feeds with of a mucous web on microplankton. It probably lives in all oceans (Corolla calceola).
Taxonomic Description
The slipper-like pseudoconch is transparent and shows a shallow, broad cavity. The "slipper" is oval in outline with a blunt anterior top. The small tubercles are regularly placed and relatively few in number. The aperture is more than half of the length of the pseudoconch. The swimming disc is oval and does not reach far anteriorly over the pseudoconch. The proboscis is short and broad with two symmetrical tentacles. The proboscis is free from the disc over most of its length. The mantle gland is asymmetrical with two oblique, completely transparent bands. The right corner of the gland is anterior to the left corner.
Pseudoconch up to 40 mm long, swimming plate up to 70 mm in diameter.
Juveniles
A special description is not available.
Reproduction
This species is a protandric hermaphrodite.
Ecology
This species is phytophagous and epipelagic.
Distribution
This species is comparable to Corolla ovata in distribution which only shows a smaller north-south range in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a distant neritic species. The scarcity in records, however, makes this conclusion dubious. It is found in the Indian and Atlantic from 40°N to 20°S, see the Corolla calceola map.
Types
Cymbulia calceola Verrill, 1880: 394.
Types could not be traced.
Type locality.: Near surface: 40°05'N 70°23'W l); 40°05'39"N 70°23'52"W 2) Coll.: CFHE, stat. 865 1) and stat. 872 2).