| Aegires minor | |
|---|---|
| An individual of Aegires minor rearing up | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: | Polyceroidea |
| Family: | Aegiridae |
| Genus: | Aegires |
| Species: | A. minor |
| Binomial name | |
| Aegires minor (Eliot, 1904)[1] |
|
Aegires minor is a species of sea slug. It is a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Aegiridae.
Contents |
This species was previously known as Notodoris minor, but a 2004 paper established Notodoris as a junior synonym of the genus Aegires.[2]
Aegires minor can grow to 14 cm in length. The skin is toughened with tiny spicules. The upper surfaces have a few irregular pustules, while the small rhinophores are smooth and simple. The branched gills are located midway along the body and are partially hidden by three large lobes. The Aegires minor has a yellow background colour and a pattern of diagonal and transverse black lines arranged in a network covering the entire body. The gills and rhinophores are yellow, but in younger specimens and with some adults, there may be some black pigmentation.[3]
Aegires minor has been found in the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Mauritius, Tanzania, Oman, Indonesia, Okinawa, Papua New Guinea, and the Great Barrier Reef.[4]
Aegires minor feeds on calcareous sponges belonging to the family Leucettidae. In the Indo-West Pacific, specimens have been recorded eating Leucetta primigenia.