Scribbled nudibranch
| scribbled nudibranch Doriopsilla miniata | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
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| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura |
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| Species: | D. miniata
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| Binomial name | |
| Doriopsilla miniata | |
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The scribbled nudibranch, Doriopsilla miniata, is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Dendrodorididae. [2]
Distribution
This species is known from the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indo-Pacific Ocean. 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.[3]
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.[4]
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. Its appearance is mimicked by a sea snail, Trivia millardi.[5]
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.
- ^ Bouchet, P. (2010). Doriopsilla miniata (Alder & Hancock, 1864). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=533888 on 2012-06-09
- ^ 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 0-908420-89-7
- Burn R. (2006) A checklist and bibliography of the Opisthobranchia (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Victoria and the Bass Strait area, south-eastern Australia. Museum Victoria Science Reports 10:1–42.
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