Aiteng ater

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Aiteng ater
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Family: Aitengidae
Genus: Aiteng
Species:
A. ater
Binomial name
Aiteng ater
Swennen & Buatip, 2009 [1] [2]

Aiteng ater is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Aitengidae. [2] The specific name ater is from the Latin language and means black, in reference to the appearance of the slug on the mud. [2]

Contents

Aiteng ater was chosen by the International Institute for Species Exploration of Arizona State University to be one of the "Top 10 New Species described in 2009". [3]

Distribution

The distribution of Aiteng ater includes Thailand. The type locality is 8°29'18" N, 100°10'55" E, Amphoe Pak Phanang, Pak Phanang Bay, in the Gulf of Thailand. [2]

Description

The size of the body is 8–12 mm. [2] The shape of the body is elongate, but broad. [2] The color of the slug is from grey to black. [2] The eyes are the only externally clearly visible feature on its head.

Aiteng ater has an unusual combination of morphological characters:

This species lacks several acochlidian characteristics:

Aiteng ater has a notum with a free margin. [2] However, in the absence of a separated visceral hump, Aiteng ater is able to retract its head under the frontal part of the notum. [4]

Ecology

Aiteng ater is an amphibious species which lives in mangrove forests in the intertidal zone, on the mud. [2] It lives "amphibiously", and tolerates marine to brackish waters, but there are no observations of these animals truly leaving the water. [4] [2]

Aiteng ater feeds on insects, (is insectivorous). [2] In the laboratory it has been observed to eat pupae of beetles (Coleoptera), pupae of Lepidoptera, imagos of mosquitos and larvae of ants. [2]

Inside the bodies of individuals of Aiteng ater, there were found to be white elongated endoparasites; these are as yet unstudied. [2] However the "parasites" described for Aiteng ater might represent spicules instead, [4] because the presence of spicules is confirmed for the undescribed species Aitengidae sp. from Japan. [4]

Related Research Articles

Anaspidea suborder of molluscs

The clade Anaspidea, commonly known as sea hares, are medium-sized to very large opisthobranch gastropod molluscs with a soft internal shell made of protein. These are marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamilies Aplysioidea and Akeroidea.

Opisthobranchia infraclass of molluscs

Opisthobranchs is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping.

Heterobranchia superorder of molluscs

Heterobranchia, the heterobranchs, is a taxonomic clade of snails and slugs, which includes marine, aquatic and terrestrial gastropod mollusks.

Mantle (mollusc) Part of the anatomy of molluscs

The mantle is a significant part of the anatomy of molluscs: it is the dorsal body wall which covers the visceral mass and usually protrudes in the form of flaps well beyond the visceral mass itself.

Mollusca Large phylum of invertebrate animals

Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda. The members are known as molluscs or mollusks. Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estimated between 60,000 and 100,000 additional species. The proportion of undescribed species is very high. Many taxa remain poorly studied.

Acochlidiacea Order of molluscs

Acochlidiacea, common name acochlidians, are a taxonomic clade of very unusual sea snails and sea and freshwater slugs, aquatic gastropod mollusks within the large clade Heterobranchia. Acochlidia is a variant spelling.

Strubellia paradoxa is a species of freshwater slug, a shell-less freshwater gastropod, an aquatic gastropod mollusk within the clade Acochlidiacea.

Gastropteridae family of molluscs

Gastropteridae, the bat-winged slugs, is a family of sea slugs, gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Philinoidea of the clade Cephalaspidea, the headshield slugs and bubble snails. The greatest diversity of these colourful small slugs is in the tropical and sub-tropical Indo-Pacific region.

Mandelas nudibranch species of Gastropoda

Mandela's nudibranch, Mandelia mirocornata, is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch. It is a marine gastropod mollusc, the only member of the genus Mandelia and the family Mandeliidae. The genus and family name honor Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa.

Scribbled nudibranch species of mollusc

The scribbled nudibranch is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Dendrodorididae.

<i>Pseudunela cornuta</i> species of mollusc

Pseudunela cornuta is a species of minute sea slug, an acochlidian, a shell-less marine and temporarily brackish gastropod mollusk in the family Pseudunelidae. Adults are about 3 mm long and live in the spaces between sand grains.

Aiteng is a genus of two species of sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs and one terrestrial species. Aiteng is the only genus in the family Aitengidae. The generic name Aiteng is derived from the name of a black puppet Ai Theng, which is one of the shadow play puppets in southern Thailand.

Paraganitus ellynnae is a species of sea slug, an acochlidian, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Microhedylidae.

Aiteng mysticus is a species of sea slug in the family Aitengidae, found around Hisamatsu, Miyako-jima, Okinawa, Japan. Morphologically it clearly belongs to the Aitengidae, but it shows differences to Aiteng ater at genus or species level. Its affinity to Aiteng ater is confirmed by comparison of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA sequences.

Thorunna daniellae is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.

<i>Pontohedyle</i> genus of molluscs

Pontohedyle is a genus of sea slugs, acochlidians, shell-less marine gastropod mollusks in the family Microhedylidae. Sea slugs in this genus are highly simplified and uniform.

<i>Pseudunela viatoris</i> species of mollusc

Pseudunela viatoris is a species of sea slug, an acochlidian, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pseudunelidae.

<i>Pseudunela marteli</i> Species of mollusc

Pseudunela marteli is a species of sea slug, an acochlidian, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pseudunelidae.

Plocamopherus maculapodium is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Polyceridae.

Bathyhedyle boucheti is a species of panpulmonate slug, a deep-sea dwelling gastropod native to the continental slope off the coast of Mozambique. It is the first ever such panpulmonate slug to be discovered at such depths. It is the only known member of its family group. Its radular formula is 1.1.2.

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-2.0 text from Jörger et al. 2010. [4]

  1. ↑ Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O, eds. (2018). "Aiteng ater". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Swennen C. & Buatip S. "Aiteng ater, new genus, new species, an amphibious and insectivorous sea slug that is difficult to classify [Mollusca: Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia: Sacoglossa(?): Aitengidae, new family]". The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 57(2): 495–500. PDF Archived 2012-03-02 at the Wayback Machine .
  3. ↑ "Top 10 New Species – 2010" Archived 2012-05-29 at the Wayback Machine ."Top 10 – 2010 Bug-eating Slug" Archived 2010-12-28 at the Wayback Machine . accessed 29 November 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Jörger K. M., Stöger I., Kano Y., Fukuda H., Knebelsberger T. & Schrödl M. (2010). "On the origin of Acochlidia and other enigmatic euthyneuran gastropods, with implications for the systematics of Heterobranchia". BMC Evolutionary Biology 10: 323. doi : 10.1186/1471-2148-10-323.
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