| Warty pleurobranch Pleurobranchaea bubala |
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: | Pleurobranchoidea |
| Family: | Pleurobranchidae |
| Genus: | Pleurobranchaea |
| Species: | P. bubala |
| Binomial name | |
| Pleurobranchaea bubala Marcus & Gosliner, 1984 |
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The warty pleurobranch, Pleurobranchaea bubala, is a species of a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurobranchidae.
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This species is endemic to the South African coast and is found only from Hout Bay to Jeffreys Bay[1] in 5-30 m of water.[2]
The warty pleurobranch has an oval sandy-coloured body with large opaque white bumps on the notum. It has a spade-shaped head and two widely separated rhinophores. There is a single gill on right hand side of body. It can be confused with the dwarf warty pleurobranch, which is smaller, has a smoother skin and can be found in deeper water.[1]
This pleurobranch is a voracious predator on other opisthobranchs. It has been seen eating smaller individuals of the same species.[3] Its egg ribbon is a sizeable roll of several white loops.