Okenia rosacea

Okenia rosacea
File:Kueda-okenia rosacea.jpg
Okenia rosacea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Nudipleura clade Nudibranchia clade Euctenidiacea clade Doridacea
Superfamily:	Onchidoridoidea
Family:	Goniodorididae
Genus:	Okenia
Species:	O. rosacea
Binomial name
Okenia rosacea (MacFarland, 1905)
Synonyms[1]
Hopkinsia rosacea

Okenia rosacea is a species of a sea slug, specifically a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae.

They can be found along the coast of western North America from Oregon to Baja California.

These pink sea slugs are characterized by numerous long papillae on their back, tapering into a round tip. These papillae are sometimes more or less white at their tips. This pink color is produced by the xanthophyllic pigment hopkinsiaxanthin, most likely obtained through feeding on a cheilostomatous bryozoan Integripelta bilabiata.

The mantle, foot and the head are merged into one entity with a flattened profile. The oral tentacles are lacking. The 20 gills are situated around the anal papillae and are somewhat shorter.

The shape of the taenioglossan radula is unique in this family, as the middle tooth is large and elongate, ending in a hook-like tip. The lateral teeth are small and are actually reduced to a rudimentary plate.

References

1. ^ Gosliner T. M. (2004). "Phylogenetic Systematics of Okenia, Sakishmaia, Hopkinsiella and Hopkinsia (Nudibranchia: Goniodorididae) with descriptions of new species from the tropical Indo-Pacific". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 55(5): 125-161. PDF.

Further reading

• Bertsch H. (1989). "Life history of the intertidal Californian nudibranch Hopkinsia rosacea MacFarland, 1905. Western Society of Malacologists, Annual Report, 21:19-20.
• Gordon D. P., Mawatari S. F. & Kajihara H. (2002). "New taxa of Japanese and New Zealand Eurystomellidae (Phylum Bryozoa) and their phylogenetic relationships". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136: 199-216.
• McBeth J. W. (1971). "Studies on the food of nudibranchs". The Veliger 14: 158-161.
• Rudman W. B. (2004). "Further species of the opisthobranch genus Okenia (Nudibranchia: Goniodorididae) from the Indo-West Pacific". Zootaxa 695: 1-70.
• Strain H. H. (1949). "Hopkinsiaxanthin, a xanthophyll of the sea slug Hopkinsia rosacea". Biological Bulletin 97(1):206-209.

External links

• http://www.seaslug.info/showall/hopkrosa