Dwarf warty pleurobranch

The dwarf warty pleurobranch, Pleurobranchaea tarda, is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurobranchaeidae.[1]

Dwarf warty pleurobranch
Pleurobranchaea tarda
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura

clade Pleurobranchomorpha
Superfamily:
Pleurobranchoidea
Family:
Pleurobranchaeidae
Genus:
Pleurobranchaea
Species:
P. tarda
Binomial name
Pleurobranchaea tarda
Verrill, 1880

Distribution

This species is found on the Atlantic coast of North America and West Africa, as well as off the South African coast, from the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula to Knysna[2] intertidally to 60 m.[3]

Description

The dwarf warty pleurobranch has an oval sandy-coloured body with a spade-shaped head and two widely separated rolled rhinophores. It has a single gill on the right hand side of its body and can grow to be 70 mm long. It may be confused with the warty pleurobranch, which is bigger and has a rougher surface, but tends to live in shallower water.[4]

Ecology

It is an enthusiastic predator on other opisthobranchs; and has even been seen eating smaller individuals of the same species. Its egg ribbon forms a sizeable roll of several white loops.[5]

References
  1. Rosenberg, G. (2015). Pleurobranchaea tarda. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=160478 on 2015-10-20
  2. Gosliner, T. M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8
  3. Zsilavecz, G. 2007. Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay. ISBN 0-620-38054-3
  4. Gosliner, T. M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8
  5. Gosliner, T. M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8
  • Abbott R. T. (1974) American seashells. The marine mollusca of the Atlantic and Pacific coast of North America. ed. 2. Van Nostrand, New York. 663 pp., 24 pls
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