Scribbled nudibranch

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]

Scribbled nudibranch
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Euctenidiacea
clade Doridacea
Superfamily:
Phyllidioidea
Family:
Dendrodorididae
Genus:
Doriopsilla
Species:
D. miniata
Binomial name
Doriopsilla miniata
(Alder & Hancock, 1864)[1]
Synonyms
  • Dendrodoris davisi Allan, 1933
  • Doridopsis miniata Alder & Hancock, 1864 (basionym)

Distribution

This species was described from Waltair, India. It is reported from the Indo-Pacific Ocean including Australia.[3] It has been synonymised with the Mediterranean species Doriopsilla areolata in the past. 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.[4] In the light of recent discoveries regarding the Doriopsilla species of California it is likely that this is a species complex.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

References
  1. 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.
  2. Bouchet, P. (2010). Doriopsilla miniata (Alder & Hancock, 1864). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2012-06-09
  3. 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.
  4. Gosliner, T.M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8
  5. Hoover C., Lindsay T., Goddard J.H.R. & Valdés A. (2015). Seeing double: pseudocryptic diversity in the Doriopsilla albopunctata–Doriopsilla gemela species complex of the north-eastern Pacific. Zoologica Scripta. 44: 612-631.
  6. Zsilavecz, G. 2007. Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay. ISBN 0-620-38054-3
  7. Liltved W.R. 2000. Cowries and their relatives of southern Africa ISBN 0-908420-89-7


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