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How does it look like?
This small gastropod grows to a size of between 5 and 15 millimetres. Its shell is translucent and can reach 10mm. In fact, it is this shell that assigns this sea slug to the order of cephalaspideans, which are the most primitive opisthobranchs (a concept, by the way, abandoned), because most sea slugs have lost this shell in the course of evolution. The body colour is whitish and sometimes greenish. The edges of the parapodial lobes, paleal lobes as well as the cephalic shield show a sometimes discontinuous purple stripe. Some specimens also have small round orange or yellowish spots on the mantle and cephalic shield.
Where does it live?
This small slug lives at depths of up to 20-30 metres, on algae. Native to the Pacific (where it was first described), it can also be found in Australia and the Red Sea. Since 2001 it has been present in the Mediterranean where its distribution has been expanding from the south-east in a north-westerly direction. It was in autumn/winter 2024 that it was seen for the first time on the Catalan coast.
How does it feed?
It is not known what this particular species eats, but other species of the genus are known to feed on diatoms that exist in the phytoplankton. This is why it can be found on seaweed beds.
How does it reproduce?
Lamprohaminoea ovalis is a hermaphrodite species. Individuals have a penis that comes out of one side of the cephalic shield, which they insert into the other individual they are trying to impregnate. In fact, if we see two individuals of this species following each other, it is very likely that one is trying to fertilise the other.
Is a confusion possible?
In the Mediterranean, confusion can be ruled out, as there are no other species with these colours. There are other small gastropods with translucent shells, such as Gibberula philippii or Gibberula miliaria, but none of these snails have the cephalic shield that distinguishes the order to which L.ovalis is assigned.
Curiosities
· This species can also be found as Haminoea cyanomarginata or Haminoea linda, but both names are no longer valid.
· The order name ‘Cephalaspidea’ means ‘shield on the head’. I fact in english the group is known as "Headshield slugs". Also sometimes as "bubble snails".
· It is believed to be a ‘lessepsian’ species, which are those that have entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.
· There are known to be more than 600 species of cephalspideans in the world.
Taxonomy
Phylum: Mollusca, Class: Gastropoda, Subclass: Heterobranchia, Order: Cephalaspidea, Family: Haminoeidae, Genus: Lamprohaminoea |
