WoRMS taxon details
Elysia margaritae Fez, 1962
182791 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:182791)
accepted
Species
marine
de Fez, S. (1962). Dos nuevos ascoglossos y un <i>Doto</i> en el puerto de Valencia. <em>Boletin de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural (B).</em> 60: 105-112., available online at https://www.rsehn.es/publicaciones-biologica/art563 [details] Available for editors 
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Taxonomy Several authors have synonymised Elysia margaritae with other species of Elysia. Thompson and Jaklin (1988) considered it...
Taxonomy Several authors have synonymised Elysia margaritae with other species of Elysia. Thompson and Jaklin (1988) considered it as a junior synonym of Elysia timida, without any justification, whereas Bouchet (1984) considered it a junior synonym of E. viridis, also providing no arguments. However, Ortea et al. (1998), discussing Canary Islands E. timida specimens, considered E. margaritae a valid species; moreover, they proposed that Elysia gordanae should be considered a junior synonym. Regarding the latter statement, we have to point out that E. gordanae has a serrated edge to its radular teeth, and rounded edges of the parapodia, with small white protuberances, which have not been mentioned for E. margaritae. This leads us to consider both species to be different. Our conclusion is that E. margaritae is a valid species, because of its unique colour pattern, large size, and smooth radular teeth. Nevertheless, the lack of additional specimens with this morphology collected since its original description in 1962, even though the eastern Iberian coasts have been intensively studied over the last three decades by several authors, and the lack of data about the size of the radular teeth, suggests that some doubts about its true taxonomic identity still exist. [details]
MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Elysia margaritae Fez, 1962. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=182791 on 2025-04-06
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Nomenclature
original description
de Fez, S. (1962). Dos nuevos ascoglossos y un <i>Doto</i> en el puerto de Valencia. <em>Boletin de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural (B).</em> 60: 105-112., available online at https://www.rsehn.es/publicaciones-biologica/art563 [details] Available for editors [request]
basis of record Martín-Hervás, M. R., Carmona, L., Jensen, K. R., Krug, P. J., Vitale, F. & Cervera, J. L. (2024 [nomenclatural availability: 2023]). A global phylogeny of <i>Elysia</i> Risso, 1818 (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia): molecular systematic insights focusing on European taxa and description of a new species. <em>Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.</em> 200(3): 670-689., available online at https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad086
page(s): figs 4G-H, 7I-J [details]
[request]basis of record Martín-Hervás, M. R., Carmona, L., Jensen, K. R., Krug, P. J., Vitale, F. & Cervera, J. L. (2024 [nomenclatural availability: 2023]). A global phylogeny of <i>Elysia</i> Risso, 1818 (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia): molecular systematic insights focusing on European taxa and description of a new species. <em>Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.</em> 200(3): 670-689., available online at https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad086
page(s): figs 4G-H, 7I-J [details]
Present Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
From editor or global species database
Taxonomy Several authors have synonymised Elysia margaritae with other species of Elysia. Thompson and Jaklin (1988) considered it as a junior synonym of Elysia timida, without any justification, whereas Bouchet (1984) considered it a junior synonym of E. viridis, also providing no arguments. However, Ortea et al. (1998), discussing Canary Islands E. timida specimens, considered E. margaritae a valid species; moreover, they proposed that Elysia gordanae should be considered a junior synonym. Regarding the latter statement, we have to point out that E. gordanae has a serrated edge to its radular teeth, and rounded edges of the parapodia, with small white protuberances, which have not been mentioned for E. margaritae. This leads us to consider both species to be different. Our conclusion is that E. margaritae is a valid species, because of its unique colour pattern, large size, and smooth radular teeth. Nevertheless, the lack of additional specimens with this morphology collected since its original description in 1962, even though the eastern Iberian coasts have been intensively studied over the last three decades by several authors, and the lack of data about the size of the radular teeth, suggests that some doubts about its true taxonomic identity still exist. [details]
