Doto amyra

Doto amyra
Doto amyra
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Nudipleura clade Nudibranchia clade Dexiarchia clade Cladobranchia clade Dendronotida
Superfamily:	Tritonioidea
Family:	Dotidae
Genus:	Doto
Species:	D. amyra
Binomial name
Doto amyra Marcus, 1961

Doto amyra, or the hammerhead doto, is a species of very small or minute sea slug^{[disambiguation needed ]}, a dendronotacean nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Dotidae.

Doto amyra in a tide pool in Central California. The photographer's fingertips on the left give an indication of the minute size of this specimen.

Distribution

This species occurs from Alaska to Baja California, Mexico.

Description

This nudibranch reaches a maximum size of 14 mm, but commonly it is under 10 mm in adult size.

The body is colorless, but the cerata are colored due to the digestive glands inside them. The color of the digestive gland can be creamy yellow to orange-red to brown, depending on the color of the hydroids that an individual specimen has been eating.

Life habits

This nudibranch feeds on hydroids.

References

• Behrens, David W., 1980, Pacific Coast Nudibranchs: a guide to the opisthobranchs of the northeastern Pacific, Sea Challenger Books, Washington

External links

• Sea Slug Forum, species factsheet: [1]
• Slug Site: [2]