Aeolidia papillosa

Aeolidia papillosa
A live individual of Aeolidia papillosa, head end towards the left
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia

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

Superfamily: Aeolidioidea
Family: Aeolidiidae
Genus: Aeolidia
Species: A. papillosa
Binomial name
Aeolidia papillosa
(Linnaeus, 1761)

Aeolidia papillosa, sometimes known by the common name grey sea slug, is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Aeolidiidae. This species has recently been shown to have a more restricted distribution than previously thought, with animals from California, France and Chile being three other species.[1]

Distribution

This nudibranch species lives on the Atlantic coast of The British Isles and Northern Europe, the Atlantic coast of North America, and the north Pacific Coast of North America.

Description

Aeolidia papillosa can be easily identified by its large number of cylindrical cerata covering its body except for a triangular area that extends from the rhinophores to the mid dorsum. The colour is variable, usually with speckled darker markings in the head and back regions.

References

  1. Kienberger, K., Carmona, L., Pola, M., Padula, V., Gosliner, T. M. and Cervera, J. L. (2016). Aeolidia papillosa (Linnaeus, 1761) (Mollusca: Heterobranchia: Nudibranchia), single species or a cryptic species complex? A morphological and molecular study. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 177: 481–506. doi: 10.1111/zoj.12379

External links

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