Bryopa melitensis (Broderip, 1834)
Mediterranean.
Suspension feeder in the infralittoral - circalittoral, nested inside hard calcareous substrate (limestone, coralligene). synonyms: angulata, laqueata, pluta.
 
B. melitensis differs from B. aperta by the lack of ancient widenings along the tube and by the colour of the siphons. – Above: the species in R. A. Philippi: Enumeratio molluscorum Siciliae… part 2, Berlin 1844, plate XIII fig.1.
The extremity of the tube is not open like a flower, as it is in Bryopa aperta. Above: 12-18m deep, Águilas, Murcia, S. Spain. Original pictures provided by B. Cunningham Aparicio (ES).
– CC BY-NC-SA) –
Same specimen.
A valve is visible on the underside of the piece of stone.
Differences in the colours of the siphons:
red in aperta (left), dark in melitensis (right).
G. P. Deshayes: Exploration scientifique de l’Algérie.
Histoire naturelle des Mollusques vol.I, Paris 1844, plate I.

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