Tenellia gymnota

Tenellia gymnota
The nudibranch Tenellia gymnota, Gulen Dive Resort, Norway.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Dexiarchia
clade Cladobranchia
clade Aeolidida

Superfamily: Fionoidea
Family: Fionidae
Genus: Tenellia
Species: C. gymnota
Binomial name
Tenellia gymnota
(Couthouy, 1838)[1]
Synonyms
  • Eolis gymnota Couthouy, 1838
  • Eolis aurantia Alder & Hancock, 1842
  • Aeolis bellula Lovén, 1846 Eolis aurantiaca
  • Alder & Hancock, 1851 Eolis sanguifera
  • Dalyell, 1853 Catriona aurantia
  • (Alder & Hancock, 1842) Catriona gymnota
  • (Couthouy, 1838) Cratena gymnota
  • (Couthouy, 1838) Cuthona gymnota
  • (Couthouy, 1838) Montagua gouldi
  • Verrill, 1874

Tenellia gymnota is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fionidae. Eolis aurantia, a subjective synonym of this species, is the type species of the genus Catriona Winckworth, 1941.[2]

Distribution

This species was described from Massachusetts Bay, on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the USA. It is reported from the NW Atlantic from Canada to New Jersey.[3] In the NE Atlantic it is reported from Norway south to Portugal and the Mediterranean Sea. DNA evidence suggests that the NE Atlantic specimens belong to a separate species to the NW Atlantic specimens and should therefore be called Tenellia aurantia.[4]

Description

This species has a translucent white body and slightly swollen cerata. The digestive gland is orange pink in colour and the tips of the cerata have a broad white band of tiny epidermal glands. In larger specimens the rhinophores develop a pale orange suffusion. The foot is broad and rounded anteriorly. Large individuals may exceed 20 mm in length.[5]

Habitat

Feeds on the hydroid Tubularia larynx. Individuals are thought to feed by eating through the stems of the hydroid rather than on the polyps. Usually found in exposed places, in strong tidal streams, and in shallow water, from 0 m to 20 m depth. The spawn consists of lozenge-shaped packets of eggs.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Couthouy J. P. (1838). Descriptions of new species of Mollusca and shells, and remarks on several Polypii, found in Massachusetts Bay. Boston Journal of Natural History 2 (1): 53-111, pl. 1-3
  2. ↑ Gofas, S. (2015). Cuthona gymnota (Couthouy, 1838). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=153380 on 2016-02-28
  3. ↑ Rudman, W.B., 2000 (September 17). Cuthona gymnota (Couthouy, 1838). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  4. ↑ Cella, K; Carmona Barnosi, L.; Ekimova, I; Chichvarkhin, A; Schepetov, D; Gosliner, T. M. (2016). A radical solution: The phylogeny of the nudibranch family Fionidae. PLoS ONE. 11(12): e0167800.
  5. 1 2 Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C. (2016). Tenellia aurantia (Alder & Hancock, 1842). [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland. Accessed on 2016-12-25.


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