Cerberilla longibranchus

Cerberilla longibranchus
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:	Cerberilla
Species:	C. longibranchus
Binomial name
	Cerberilla longibranchus; (Volodchenko, 1941) [1]

Last updated March 18, 2019

Cerberilla longibranchus is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine heterobranch mollusc in the family Aeolidiidae.^[2]

In biology, a species ( ) is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. While these definitions may seem adequate, when looked at more closely they represent problematic species concepts. For example, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear with hybridisation, in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies, and in a ring species. Also, among organisms that reproduce only asexually, the concept of a reproductive species breaks down, and each clone is potentially a microspecies.

Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are actually gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails that over evolutionary time have either completely lost their shells, or have seemingly lost their shells due to having a greatly reduced or internal shell. The name "sea slug" is most often applied to nudibranchs, as well as to a paraphyletic set of other marine gastropods without obvious shells.

Nudibranchs are a group of soft-bodied, marine gastropod molluscs which shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to match, such as "clown", "marigold", "splendid", "dancer", and "dragon". Currently, about 3,000 valid species of nudibranchs are known.

Distribution

This species was described from the Russian Pacific Ocean. It has also been reported from Japan.^[3]

Russia, officially the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the ninth most populous, with about 146.77 million people as of 2019, excluding Crimea. About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital, Moscow, is the largest metropolitan area in Europe proper and one of the largest cities in the world; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. However, Russia recognises two more countries that border it, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which are internationally recognized as parts of Georgia.

Description

All Cerberilla species have a broad foot and the cerata are long and numerous, arranged in transverse rows across the body. This species is predominantly brown and the cerata are brown becoming almost black at the tips.^[3]

Cerata anatomical structures found in nudibranch sea slugs

Ceras, plural Cerata, are anatomical structures found externally in nudibranch sea slugs, especially in aeolid nudibranchs, marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Aeolidida. The singular of cerata is ceras, which comes from the Greek word "κέρας", meaning "horn", a reference to the shape of these structures.

Ecology

Species of Cerberilla live on and in sandy substrates where they burrow beneath the surface and feed on burrowing sea anemones.

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References

↑ Volodchenko, N. I. (1941). New nudibranchiate molluscs from seas of the far-east of the U.S.S.R. Investigations of the far eastern seas of the U.S.S.R. 1:53-72, pls. 1-4. [Issledovani Dal'nevostochnykh Morei S.S.S.R.].
↑ Bouchet, P. (2015). Cerberilla longibranchus. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-11-12
1 2 Baba, K. (1976). The genus Cerberilla of Japan (Nudibranchia: Eolidoidea: Aeolidiidae), with the description of a new species. The Veliger, 18(3):272-280. p. 275.

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[1] Volodchenko, N. I. (1941). New nudibranchiate molluscs from seas of the far-east of the U.S.S.R. Investigations of the far eastern seas of the U.S.S.R. 1:53-72, pls. 1-4. [Issledovani Dal'nevostochnykh Morei S.S.S.R.].

[WoRMS-2] Bouchet, P. (2015). Cerberilla longibranchus. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-11-12

[Baba-3] 1 2 Baba, K. (1976). The genus Cerberilla of Japan (Nudibranchia: Eolidoidea: Aeolidiidae), with the description of a new species. The Veliger, 18(3):272-280. p. 275.