Babakina anadoni

Babakina anadoni is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch in the family Babakinidae.[1]

Babakina anadoni
Babakina anadoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Dexiarchia
clade Cladobranchia

clade Aeolidida
Superfamily:
Aeolidioidea
Family:
Babakinidae
Genus:
Babakina
Species:
B. anadoni
Binomial name
Babakina anadoni
(Ortea, 1979)

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1979 and placed in the genus Rioselleolis (named after Ribadesella, Asturias, where the holotype was found), but has subsequently been assigned to the genus Babakina.[2][3] The species was named to honour Emilio Anadón Frutos (1917-1997) who was a professor of zoology and marine biology at the University of Oviedo, Spain.[4]

Description

It is multicoloured and grows to 2 cm in length. The ground colour of its body is a shade of purple. Its chemosensory organs (rhinophores) and other structures covering the surface of the body (cerata) are contrasting shades of purple as well as different colours including blue, white, yellow and pink.[4]

Distribution and habitat

It is found in warm Atlantic waters, including off the west coast of Spain, the Canary Islands and the coastlines of Portugal and rarely southern France. It is also known from the eastern Atlantic in The Bahamas, as well as the French Caribbean[4] and the coast of Brazil.[5] Records of the species from temperate waters are also known; in 2022 an individual was found off the Isles of Scilly of the United Kingdom, north of its typical distribution.[6] Another was found in a rock pool at Falmouth, Cornwall, even further north, in May 2023.[7]

References
  1. Gosliner T. M., Gonzáles-Duarte M. M. & Cervera J. L. (2007). "Revision of the systematics of Babakina Roller, 1973 (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia) with the description of a new species and a phylogenetic analysis". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 151(4): 671-689. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00331.x.
  2. Ortea, Jesús A. (1979). "Nota preliminar sobre Rioselleolis anadoni n. gen., n. sp. un nuevo Aeolidaceo (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia) capturado en Ribadesella Asturias, España". Boletín de Ciencias de la Naturaleza (IDEA). 24: 131–141.
  3. "Babakina anadoni (Ortea, 1979)". WoRMS. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  4. "BABAKINE D'ANADON". Données d'Observations pour la Reconnaissance et l'Identification de la faune et la flore Subaquatiques. DORIS. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  5. "Babakina anadoni (Ortea, 1979)". GBIF. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  6. Horton, Helena (4 July 2022). "Rare coloured sea slug spotted in British waters for first time". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  7. "Rare rainbow sea slug found in Falmouth rock pool". BBC News. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.


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