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This species has been observed on Reunion Islands

Order : Pleurobranchomorpha Superfamily : Pleurobranchoidea Family : Pleurobranchidae Distribution : Worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate waters Maximal size : 20 mm Abundance : Seldom if ever....on the rocky coast Species characteristics : This side gilled slug has a reticulate pattern on its back which is sometimes more noticeable than other times. It is characterized by a translucent white to honey brown body color and a few opaque white markings centrally : these markings are often in the form of a cross. Sometimes the white marks is not present, or occurs as a broken hashed line
	Showing species characteristics...	Photo Christophe Cadet Reunion, Etang salé on the rocky coast, less 1 m, 23 November 2011, size 20 mm,

See more about : Sightening and mating periods

Remarks :

Identification confirmed by Bill Rudman
    Synonymous : (according Worms)           
               - Berthella albocrossata Heller & Thompson, 1983                               - Berthella tulupa Er. Marcus, 1957                
               - Berthella postrema Burn, 1962                                                          - Pleurobranchus pellucidus Pease, 1860
               - Berthella stellata albocrossata Heller & Thompson, 1983                   - Pleurobranchus stellatus risso, 1826

Bibliographic data :

Berthella stellata was originally named from animals collected in the Mediterranean. Since then, and often under various synonyms, it has been reported from the Red Sea, southern Africa, Australia, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and the eastern Pacific (including the Pacific coast of the Baja California peninsula and inside the Gulf of California).
    The mantle of this small side gilled slug is so transparent that the relative large, flattened internal shell and viscera can be easely seen from above.
    The diet consist of encrusting siliceous sponges.
    The spawn consist of a white spirally-arranged egg mass
    There is a flattened, thinly calcified, but well developed shell embedded in the mantle tissue.
    One character separating the genera Berthella and Berthellina is that in Berthella, the shell is relatively large covering much of the viscera, while in Berthellina it is reduced to a small plate, perhaps a tenth of the width of the mantle.

References :

Bill Rudman Seaslug site : Sea Slug Forum : Berthella stellata
   Nudipixel Berthella stellata

Publications :

Risso, A. (1826). Les Nudibranches, pp 30-54 In: Histoire des principales productions de l'Europe Meridionale et particulierement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes Maritimes, 4 .
    Gosliner, T.M. & Bertsch, H. (1988). A review of the genus Berthella (Opisthobranchia: Notaspidea) from the Pacific Coast of North America. The Veliger, 31 : 46-67.

Other photos of Berthella stellata :

Hugues Flodrops Reunion, Etang salé on the rocky coast, less 1 m, 5 December 2007, size 20 mm,   Sometimes the white bar is not present, or occurs as a broken hashed line This species has a reticulate pattern on its back which is sometimes more noticeable than other times.

Christophe Cadet Reunion, Etang salé on the rocky coast, less 1 m, 3 September 2010, size 7 mm During the night... A small specimen with a translucent white body color and a few opaque white markings centrally : these markings are in the form of a cross (a).

Christophe Cadet Reunion, Etang salé on the rocky coast , less 1 m, 27 November 2010 Few opaque white markings centrally : these markings are often in the form of a cross (a). With an Aplysia parvula

Philibert Bidgrain Reunion, Etang salé on the rocky coast , less 1 m, 4 December 2010, size 10-12 mm This side gilled slug has a reticulate pattern on its back

Nathalie Rodrigues Reunion, Etang salé lagoon, less 1 m, 26 March 2016,   With its spawn (a)

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