Catriona gymnota

Catriona gymnota
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Nudibranchia
Suborder:	Aeolidacea
Family:	Trinchesiidae
Genus:	Catriona
Species:	C. gymnota
Binomial name
Catriona gymnota (Couthouy, 1838) [1]
Synonyms
Catriona gymnotaCouthouy, 1838 Cratena gymnotaCouthouy, 1838 Cuthona gymnotaCouthouy, 1838 Eolis gymnotaCouthouy, 1838 Eolis sanguiferaDalyell, 1853 Montagua gouldiVerrill, 1874

Catriona gymnota is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Trinchesiidae. ^[2]

Distribution

This species was described from Massachusetts Bay, on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the US. It is reported from the NW Atlantic from Canada to New Jersey. ^[3] DNA evidence suggests that the NE Atlantic specimens previously thought to be this species actually belong to a separate species and should therefore be called Catriona aurantia . ^{[4] [5]}

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.

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 Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine on 2016-02-28
3. Rudman, W.B., 2000 (September 17). Cuthona gymnota (Couthouy, 1838). Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine [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. Korshunova, T.; Martynov, A.; Picton, B. (2017). Ontogeny as an important part of integrative taxonomy in tergipedid aeolidaceans (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) with a description of a new genus and species from the Barents Sea. Zootaxa. 4324(1): 1.

Media related to Cuthona gymnota at Wikimedia Commons