Alderia willowi

Alderia willowi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia
informal group Opisthobranchia
clade Sacoglossa
clade Placobranchacea
Superfamily: Limapontioidea
Family: Limapontiidae
Genus: Alderia
Species: A. willowi
Binomial name
Alderia willowi
Krug, Patrick et al., 2007[1]

Alderia willowi is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Limapontiidae. It is a sacoglossan.[1]

This species is endemic to California.[2] It was previously thought to be Alderi modesta, but there turned out to be a cryptic species pair.

This species is poecilogonous, in other words it has variable larval development modes.[1]

The slug was discovered by a team led by Patrick Krug of California State University, Los Angeles.[1] The species is named after Krug's grandmother, and after the fictional character Willow Rosenberg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Krug, P. J.; et al. (2007). "A new poecilogonous species of sea slug (Opisthobranchia: Sacoglossa) from California: comparison with the planktotrophic congener Alderia modesta (Love'n, 1844)". Journal of Molluscan Studies 73: 29–38. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyl025. ISSN 1464-3766. 
  2. ^ a b "Variable Larval Development Modes (poecilogony)". Krug Lab - Larval Ecology and Evolution. http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/pkrug/lab/Res1-poecilogony.html. Retrieved 2009-06-19.