Eubranchus exiguus

Eubranchus exiguus is a species of small sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Eubranchidae.

Eubranchus exiguus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Dexiarchia
clade Cladobranchia

clade Dendronotida
Superfamily:
Fionoidea
Family:
Eubranchidae
Genus:
Eubranchus
Species:
E. exiguus
Binomial name
Eubranchus exiguus
(Alder & Hancock, 1848)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Tergipes lacinulatus auct. non Blainville, 1824
  • Aeolis despecta auct. non Johnston, 1838
  • Tergipes fustifer Lovén, 1846[3]
  • Eolis exigua Alder & Hancock, 1848[1]
  • Galvina exiguus (Alder & Hancock, 1848)
  • Capellinia exiguus (Alder & Hancock, 1848)
  • Capellinia capellinii auct. non Trinchese, 1874

Distribution

The type locality is the harbour at Fowey, in England.[1] It is found all round the British Isles and from the Arctic and Scandinavia to the Mediterranean Sea.[4]

Description

Eubranchus exiguus was originally discovered and described (under the name Eolis exigua) in 1848, by the British malacologists Joshua Alder and Albany Hancock.[1]

The original text (the type description) reads as follows:[1]

Eolis exigua.

Body slender, yellowish white with olive or pale brown markings. Dorsal tentacles linear, moderately long, with a ring of brown near the top: oral tentacles about one-third shorter and of the same colour. Branchiae generally in a single series of five or six on each side, but in fine full-grown specimens there are two on each side in front or sometimes a cluster of three, the third being placed a little behind the others. There is also frequently an additional papilla united with some of the others behind. They are ovate, tapering abruptly to a point: there is a ring of olive or yellowish brown, sometimes reddish, at a short distance from the apex, and frequently two others, less perfect below, but generally these are only indicated by brown spots or streaks. The body is also blotched and spotted with brown, and there is frequently an interrupted line of that colour on each side. Foot rounded in front and nearly linear, with a slight margin of pale brown at the sides. Length 1½ to 2 lines.

This species was found in considerable abundance in Fowey Harbour on Laminaria saccharina. Mr. Cocks has also found it at Falmouth. It is allied to Eolis despecta, some specimens of which were found in company with it, but it is easily distinguished by not having the waved dorsal line of the latter species. It appears to be the Tergipes lacinulatus of Professor Lovén, but

we cannot concur in referring it to the Limax tergipes of Forskahl (Doris lacinulatus, Gmelin).

The maximum recorded length is 8 mm.[5]

Habitat

Minimum recorded depth is 0 m.[5] Maximum recorded depth is 10 m.[5]

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[1]

  1. Alder J. & Hancock A. (1848). "Additions to the British species of Nudibranchiate Mollusca". Annals and Magazine of Natural History (series 2)1: 189-192.
  2. "Eubranchus exiguus (Alder & Hancock, 1848)". Malacolog Version 4.1.1. A Database of Western Atlantic Marine Mollusca. Accessed 19 February 2010.
  3. Lovén S. L. (1846). "Nordens Hafs-Mollusker". Öfversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akademiens Förhandlingar 3: 134-160.
  4. Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C. (2015). Eubranchus exiguus (Alder & Hancock, 1848). [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland. Accessed on 2015-12-26
  5. Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
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