Corolla intermedia (Tesch, 1903)
[dubious species]
Overview
This is a shell-less pteropod with a large gelatinous slipper-like pseudoconch, 4 cm long. The pseudoconch is elongate-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 small warts. The proboscis is prominent. It is an elegant swimmer that feeds with a mucous web on microplankton. It probably lives in the all oceans (Corolla intermedia 1).
Taxonomic Description
Pseudoconch transparent, yellowish, oval, both poles being nearly equal in shape. Aperture of the cavity not reaching to the middle of the pseudoconch. The small tubercles on the pseudoconch are irregularly distributed, while they are absent on the ventral side. At the aboral side the tubercles are smaller than elsewhere as in Corolla spectabilis. The border of the swimming disc is situated close to the ventral pseudoconch border. The mantle gland has two complete and one incomplete transparent transverse band and is asymmetrical; the left part is more developed than the right side (Corolla intermedia 1).
The length of the pseudoconch is up to 39 mm, the maximum diameter of the swimming disc up to 30 mm.
Juveniles
A special description is not available.
Reproduction
This species is a protandric hermaphrodite.
Ecology
This species is phytophagous and epipelagic.
Distribution
In principle the distribution of this species is similar to that of C. calceola and C. ovata, which also suggests a synonymy of the three species. However, insufficient distributional data are known for all species. Differences in north-south range and differences in the penetration into the Pacific may be present. This species is found in the west tropical Atlantic, the Benguela Current, the Agulhas Current and the Indian Ocean, and shows a more or less neritic character, see the Corolla intermedia map.
Types
Cymbuliopsis intermedia Tesch, 1903: 113 (1904), pl. 4, figs. 100-104.
Lectotype: ZMAN (alcohol collection). Paralectotypes: ZMAN, 7 spec. (alcohol collection).
Type locality: 1°S 128°30'E. Coll.: Siboga, stat. 144.