- Scribbled nudibranch
-
scribbled nudibranch
Doriopsilla miniata
Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda (unranked): clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Euctenidiacea
clade DoridaceaSuperfamily: Phyllidioidea Family: Dendrodorididae Genus: Doriopsilla Species: D. miniata Binomial name Doriopsilla miniata
(Alder & Hancock, 1864)[1]The scribbled nudibranch, Doriopsilla miniata, is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Dendrodorididae.
Contents
Distribution
This species is known from the Mediterranean, and the Indo-Pacific. Around the southern African coast it is found from the Atlantic side of the Cape Peninsula to Sodwana Bay from the intertidal to at least 30 m.[2]
Description
The scribbled nudibranch is a smooth-bodied yellow-brown nudibranch, with opaque white lines on its notum. It may reach a total length of 50 mm.[3]
Ecology
This species feeds on sponges. It lacks a tooth-bearing tongue (radula) and instead digests prey sponges using digestive enzymes produced by its oral gland. The externally digested sponge cells are then pumped into the mouth. It is mimicked by a marine snail, Trivia millardi.[4]
References
- ^ Alder J. & Hancock A. (1864). "Notice of a collection of Nudibranchiate Mollusca made in India by Walter Elliot, Esq., with descriptions of several new genera and species". Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 5: 113-147.
- ^ GOSLINER, T.M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8
- ^ ZSILAVECZ, G. 2007. Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay. ISBN 0-620-38054-3
- ^ LILTVED W.R. 2000. Cowries and their relatives of southern Africa ISBN 0-908-42089-7
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