יומן של Sea Slugs of Portugal

So another year has passed and there have been some changes in the project which have affected the number of records and species.

Latest species added: Polycera norvegica.

First, the Runcinida and Pteropoda orders were added and that brought a few species into the count:

• Cavolinia inflexa
• Desmopterus papilio
• Cymbulia peronii
• Cuvierina columnella
• Pneumnodermopsis ciliata
• Runcina ferruginea

Other new species were also added with the addition of new records:

• Thuridilla hopei
• Berthella ocellata
• Pleurobranchus reticulatus
• Amphorina andra
• Berghia verrucicornis
• Cerberilla bernadettae
• Polycera norvegica
• Hermaea paucicirra (awaiting RG)
• Placida cremoniana

This brings the current total to 133 species (+14%), 4,417 observations (+46%), 267 observers (+140%) and 202 identifiers (+59%). It's worth to note that 93% of the observations have now reached Research Grade, it was only 81% one year ago.

So thanks are in order for all who have been contributing to the growth of this project and helping on gathering more knowledge about these fascinating creatures!

Less than a week after the last addition, here's another new entry: the elusive Corambe testudinaria.

Although it had been previously recorded in Spain, in Galicia and in Western Andalusia, and was expected to occur in Portugal there were still no published records to confirm its presence. The small size and remarkable camouflage make it particularly difficult to spot so it's likely to have been missed up until now.

Following the recent publication of a paper combining analysis of chromatic variations and molecular data, a new species of the genus Polycera was described and it turns out to be one of the most common in Portugal. Although Polycera faeroensis is confirmed to be present, the newly described species Polycera kernowensis is the most often found.

Reference: Korshunova, T. A.; Driessen, F. M. F.; Picton, B. E.; Martynov, A. V. (2021). The multilevel organismal diversity approach deciphers difficult to distinguish nudibranch species complex. Scientific Reports. 11(1)., available online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-94863-5

Thanks to all who have contributed to this project for the past 5 years, either by adding observations or helping with the identifications!
Time to check the status of our project. Its aim is mostly to gather data on Portuguese sea slugs and to provide an answer to three main questions:

• Which species can we find in Portugal?
• Where and when are we most likely to find a certain species in Portugal?
• Which species are we most likely to find at a certain place and time of the year in Portugal?

Although the pandemic reduced the number of observations, here are a few highlights from last year:

New species added to Portugal's checklist
	Polycera hedgpethi Originally described from California, this species has been recorded in several other locations around the world but this was the first time it has been recorded in Portugal.
	Mationia gemmii This species was described in 2018 from Galicia, Spain, and it has since been recorded also from the Mediterranean so although it was expected to be present in Portugal this was the first time it was confirmed.
	Doris adrianae This species was described in 2021 from Galicia, Spain, and the publication triggered the review of previous records elsewhere as in this case.
	Limacia inesae A revision of Limacia clavigera resulted in the description of several new species. Apparently, L. clavigera is present in the NE Atlantic and is replaced by L. inesae in the Mediterranean but several records from Portugal have shown both species overlap at least as far North as Sesimbra.
New distribution ranges for Portuguese species
	Polycera aurantiomarginata Previously known only from the Southern coast of continental Portugal, a record from Setúbal has extended its range.
	Felimida binza Previously known only from the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, a record from Sesimbra has extended its range to continental Portugal.

Here's a summary of the project's collection so far:

• Observations: 3,015 (81% of which research grade)
• Species: 117
• Observers: 111
• Identifiers: 127

The number of recorded species has increased significantly the past few days, including some notable observations:

• @anaferro added the rare observation of Felimida binza in continental Portugal. The species had been previously recorded from the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira but this was the first time it was recorded from the mainland;

• @anaclaudiaferreira added the first record for Portugal of Marionia gemmii. It was also the first record of the species on iNaturalist;

• last but not least, an old record of a new species? A couple of observations I did in 2010 and uploaded to iNaturalist in 2016 stayed unidentified. But the recently described species Doris adrianae brought a new "suspect" to the scene and the confirmation of the identification meant the species got its range extended to Portugal (it was described from Galicia, Spain). Another first for Portugal and for iNaturalist.

Soon the Sea Slugs of Portugal project will turn 5 years old. Stay tuned for the evolution of our numbers in our next journal post. And keep those observations coming!

Due to some species being pelagic it's only natural that the project includes records outside the territorial boundaries of Portugal but within its Exclusive Economic Zone. This adds one more species to the Project checklist, Fiona pinnata.

Toms et al. (2021) described 4 new species which had been previously identified as Limacia clavigera. One of those, Limacia inesae, is present in Portugal and can be distinguished more easily by the smaller size and the arrangement of the dorsal papillae in a single median line:




References:

• Toms J.A., Pola M., Von der Heyden S. & Gosliner T.M. (2021). Disentangling species of the genus Limacia O.F. Müller, 1781, from southern Africa and Europe using integrative taxonomical methods, with the description of four new species. Marine Biodiversity. 51(1): 1-31., available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-020-01125-0

The Portuguese postal service (CTT) has released a small collection of post stamps with some of the most iconic nudibranchs species in Portugal. The collection and accompanying texts can be found here:
https://www.ctt.pt/dotAsset/ca7aad9f-9e14-45fb-9147-82a9eb02d3c2.pdf

I've changed this project to the new "collection" type so it gathers records automatically. Also included other opisthobranchs as most who are interested in nudibranchs have a wider interest in sea slugs in general.