The first finding of Smaragdinella sieboldi A. Adams, 1864 (Opisthobranchia: Haminoeidae) in the South China sea with description of the anatomy of the species

Abstract

This paper presents a description of the anatomy and photos of live specimens of the opisthobranch mollusk Smaragdinella sieboldi A. Adams, 1864 collected in Van Phong Bay (Vietnam). It is the first record of the species from the South China Sea. This species was previously recorded for the coastal waters of Japan according to a short description of the shell. The first scanning electron microscope image of the gizzard plates made it possible to refine the morphology of the gizzard plates in Smaragdinella. It has been established that S. sieboldi inhabits dead shells of the sea barnacle Tetraclita squamosa in the upper interdidal zone. Smaragdinella fragilis Bozzetti, 2008 is very similar to S. sieboldi in its shell structure and is probably a junior synonym of the species.