Okenia leachii

Okenia leachii
	illustration accompanying the original description in A monograph of the British nudibranchiate Mollusca
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Heterobranchia ; clade Euthyneura ; clade Nudipleura ; clade Nudibranchia ; clade Euctenidiacea ; clade Doridacea
Superfamily:	Onchidoridoidea
Family:	Goniodorididae
Genus:	Okenia
Species:	O. leachii
Binomial name
	Okenia leachii; (Alder & Hancock, 1855) [1] [2]

Last updated November 06, 2019

Okenia leachii is a species of sea slug, a Dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae .

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.

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.

Doridacea is a taxonomic grouping of dorid nudibranchs, shell-less marine gastropod mollusks. included in the clade Euctenidiacea of the clade Nudibranchia.

Distribution

This species was first described from Whitburn, North Sea with additional specimens from the Hebrides and Torbay.^[2]

The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north. It is more than 970 kilometres (600 mi) long and 580 kilometres (360 mi) wide, with an area of 570,000 square kilometres (220,000 sq mi).

Hebrides archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland

The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides.

Torbay Borough and unitary authority in England

Torbay is a borough in Devon, England, administered by the unitary authority of Torbay Council. It consists of 62.87 square kilometres (24.27 sq mi) of land, spanning the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located around an east-facing natural harbour on the English Channel. A popular tourist destination with a tight conurbation of resort towns, Torbay's sandy beaches, mild climate and recreational and leisure attractions have given rise to the nickname of the English Riviera.

Description

This goniodorid nudibranch is translucent white in colour, with brilliant white pigment on the pallial tentacles, rhinophores and gills.

A rhinophore is one of a pair of chemosensory club-shaped, rod-shaped or ear-like structures which are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy in sea slugs, marine gastropod opisthobranch mollusks such as the nudibranchs (Nudibranchia), Sea Hares, (Aplysiomorpha) and sap-sucking sea slugs (Sacoglossa).

Ecology

Okenia leachii probably feeds on tunicates such as Molgula occulta, family Molgulidae which live buried in muddy sand seabeds.^[3]

A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata. It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords. The subphylum was at one time called Urochordata, and the term urochordates is still sometimes used for these animals. They are the only chordates that have lost their myomeric segmentation, with the possible exception of the seriation of the gill slits.

Molgulidae is a family of tunicates in the class Ascidiacea. Following a revision in 2007, the family Hexacrobylidae was synonymized with Molgulidae.

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Sir Charles Norton Edgcumbe Eliot was a British diplomat, colonial administrator and botanist. He served as Commissioner of British East Africa in 1900–1904. He was British Ambassador to Japan in 1919–1925.

Janolus is a genus of small to large sea slugs, or more accurately nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks, in the family Proctonotidae.

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Eubranchidae is a taxonomic family of sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Aeolidioidea, the aeolid nudibranchs.

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<i>Aeolidiella glauca</i> species of mollusc

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<i>Okenia aspersa</i> species of mollusc

Okenia aspersa is a species of sea slug, a Dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae.

<i>Goniodoris nodosa</i> species of mollusc

Goniodoris nodosa is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae.

<i>Okenia barnardi</i> species of mollusc

Okenia barnardi is a species of sea slug, specifically a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae.

Okenia vancouverensis is a species of sea slug, specifically a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae.

<i>Zelentia pustulata</i> species of mollusc

Zelentia pustulata is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Trinchesiidae.

<i>Eubranchus cingulatus</i> species of mollusc

Eubranchus cingulatus is a species of sea slug or nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Eubranchidae. It is considered by some authors to be synonymous with Eubranchus vittatus.

<i>Eubranchus pallidus</i> species of mollusc

Eubranchus pallidus is a species of sea slug or nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Eubranchidae.

<i>Eubranchus vittatus</i> species of mollusc

Eubranchus vittatus is a species of sea slug or nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Eubranchidae.

<i>Knoutsodonta depressa</i> species of mollusc

Knoutsodonta depressa is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Onchidorididae.

<i>Onchidoris muricata</i> species of mollusc

Onchidoris muricata is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Onchidorididae.

<i>Knoutsodonta inconspicua</i> species of mollusc

Knoutsodonta inconspicua is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Onchidorididae.

<i>Knoutsodonta sparsa</i> species of mollusc

Knoutsodonta sparsa is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Onchidorididae.

<i>Knoutsodonta pusilla</i> species of mollusc

Knoutsodonta pusilla is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Onchidorididae.

References

↑ Alder J. & Hancock A. (1854). Notice of some new species of British Nudibranchiata. Annals and Magazine of Natural History. ser. 2, 14: 102-105.
1 2 Alder, J., & A. Hancock. 1855. A monograph of the British nudibranchiate Mollusca: with figures of all the species. Pt. 7, pp. 1-54, fam. 1, pls. 21a, 27; fam. 2, pls. 1, 2; fam. 3, pls. 38a, 45-48. Appendix, pp. i-xl. Ray Society London.
↑ Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C. (2016). Okenia leachii (Alder & Hancock, 1855). [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland. Accessed on 2016-08-02.

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[1] Alder J. & Hancock A. (1854). Notice of some new species of British Nudibranchiata. Annals and Magazine of Natural History. ser. 2, 14: 102-105.

[A&H-2] 1 2 Alder, J., & A. Hancock. 1855. A monograph of the British nudibranchiate Mollusca: with figures of all the species. Pt. 7, pp. 1-54, fam. 1, pls. 21a, 27; fam. 2, pls. 1, 2; fam. 3, pls. 38a, 45-48. Appendix, pp. i-xl. Ray Society London.

[3] Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C. (2016). Okenia leachii (Alder & Hancock, 1855). [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland. Accessed on 2016-08-02.