Melibe
Melibe is a genus of sea slugs, nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Tethydidae.
Most nudibranchs are carnivores, but their prey is usually sessile or slow-moving animals such as sponges or bryozoans. In contrast, Melibe is an active predator which traps fast-moving free-swimming animals such as small crustaceans, using its extendable oral hood. [1]
Species
Species within the genus Melibe include 14 valid species and 3 doubtful species:[2]
- Melibe australis Angas, 1864[2]
- Melibe bucephala Bergh, 1902[2]
- Melibe digitata Gosliner & Smith, 2003[2]
- Melibe engeli Risbec, 1937[2]
- Melibe leonina (Gould, 1852)[2]
- Melibe liltvedi Gosliner, 1987[2]
- Melibe maugeana Burn, 1960[2]
- Melibe megaceras Gosliner, 1987[2]
- Melibe minuta Gosliner & Smith, 2003[2]
- Melibe papillosa (de Filippi, 1867)[2]
- Melibe pilosa Pease, 1860[2]
- Melibe rosea Rang, 1829 - type species[2]
- Melibe tuberculata Gosliner & Smith, 2003[2]
- Melibe viridis (Kelaart, 1858) - synonym: Melibe fimbriata Alder & Hancock, 1864; Melibe vexillifera Bergh, 1880; Propomelibe mirifica Allan, 1932; Melibe mirifica (Allan, 1932); ? Melibe japonica Eliot, 1913[2]
doubtful species:
- Melibe capucina Bergh, 1875[2]
- Melibe ocellata Bergh, 1888[2]
- Melibe rangi Bergh, 1875[2]
References
- ^ Rang (1829). Man. Moll., 129.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Gosliner T. M. & Smith V. G. (2003). "Systematic review and phylogenetic analysis of the nudibranch genus Melibe (Opistobranchia: Dendronotacea) with descriptions of three new species". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 54: 302-355. PDF.
Further reading
- Gosliner, T.M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8