Pruvotfolia sp. 3

Image courtesy of David Cowdery
Photo taken at Anilao, Batangas, Philippines
March 2018
Nikon D800 with DS160 substrobes

Pruvotfolia sp. 3 (Undescribed)

The genus Pruvotfolia is named after the famous French malacologist, Alice Pruvot-Fol (August 1873 - March 1972). A bit of a rebel, she worked primarily with preserved material (never live animals) making many of her descriptions less than totally accurate. For example she named Nembrotha rutilans, in 1931 on the basis of a painted illustration in a book. She had no type specimen, unless we can call the painting the holotype. At the age of 89 years old, she named her last species - Phyllidia pulitzeri.

This undescribed species is a translucent tan to grey in body color. The digestive glands are dark and the cnidosacs at the tip of each cerata are white to pink. In David's photo they look more like those of Pruvotfolia rhodopos, but the ceratal cores makes me think P. sp. 3.

The rhinophores are highly lamellate, with an orange tint.

Like other members of Pruvotfolia, it is a highly derived facelinid having specialized cerata modified for copulation. Who would have thought?


Dave Behrens
Sammamish, WA 98074
Jul., 2018
Send Dave email at davidwbehrens@gmail.com


David Cowdery

Dave Cowdery is a retired bio-medical Engineer and is the inventor of the Alumina/Titanium hermetic feedthrough (1970) for implantable bionics and the first to introduce a Titanium casing. This invention created the first bionic implant (pacemaker) with a service life that could be measured in years rather than months and is the basis for todays huge multi billion dollar bionic industry.

David is a Divemaster with over 5,500 dives experience and is based near Byron Bay in Australia. David is also a keen competitive road bicycle rider covering over 400 km most weeks. Photographic equipment used Nikon D800 camera with DS160 substrobes.

Send Dave mail at divec@ozemail.com.au



From left to right, Terry Gosliner, Angel Valdes, Dave Behrens La Jolla, Calif.

Send Dave email at davidwbehrens@gmail.com

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