| Philine aperta | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A close-up of a live Philine aperta | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Family: | Philinidae |
| Genus: | Philine |
| Species: | P. aperta |
| Binomial name | |
| Philine aperta (Linnaeus, 1767) | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Philine aperta, the sand slug, is a species of predatory sea slug with an internal shell, a cephalaspid opisthobranch, or head-shield slug. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Philinidae. [1]
Philine aperta and Philine quadripartita have long been treated as synonyms. However, according to Price et al. (2011), based on anatomy, there are two distinct species, the first one in South Africa and Mozambique, the second one in European seas. [1]
This species can be found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from northern Europe to southern Africa and is also found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It lives subtidally to several hundreds of metres underwater; in tropical waters it is found in deeper water. [2] In southern Africa it occurs from Saldanha Bay, West coast to Mozambique, subtidal to 100 m. [3]
The body length of the adult is 60–70 mm, up to 100 mm. [3]
Philine aperta is a sturdy, solid-bodied animal, white to cream in colour, with an internal shell and a folded appearance. It grows up to 100 mm in length. [4]
The shell is internal and fully covered by the animal’s body. The body is divided into a head shield, which is flattened for burrowing in sandy substrates, a posterior shield that overlies the viscera and internal shell, and two lateral lobes, one on each side. The internal shell is thin and translucent. [3]
The somewhat translucent animal is uniformly milky white to yellowish. [3]
Philine aperta is an active, sand-dwelling, predatory species; it eats small molluscs and worms which are swallowed whole, and then crushed in its gizzard. The animal secretes sulphuric acid to deter predators.
Its egg masses are translucent, sausage-shaped and are attached to sandy bottoms by long mucous threads.
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 gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails that, over evolutionary time, have either entirely lost their shells or have seemingly lost their shells due to having a significantly reduced or internal shell. The name "sea slug" is often applied to nudibranchs and a paraphyletic set of other marine gastropods without apparent shells.
Bulla is a genus of medium to large hermaphrodite sea snails, shelled marine opisthobranch gastropod molluscs. These herbivorous snails are in the suborder Cephalaspidea, headshield slugs, and the order Opisthobranchia.
Limax maximus, known by the common names great grey slug and leopard slug, is a species of slug in the family Limacidae, the keeled slugs. It is among the largest keeled slugs, Limax cinereoniger being the largest.
Pleurobranchaea bubala, the warty pleurobranch, is a species of sea slug, specifically a sidegill slug or notaspidean. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurobranchaeidae.
Chicoreus ramosus, common name the ramose murex or branched murex, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails. It is considered an economically important species in the Indo-West Pacific, especially in India.
Cabestana cutacea, common name the Mediterranean bark triton, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cymatiidae.
Tonna canaliculata is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Tonnidae, the tun shells.
Phalium glaucum, common name the grey bonnet or glaucus bonnet, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cassidae, the helmet snails and bonnet snails.
Tethys fimbria is a species of predatory sea slug, a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Tethydidae.
Doto hydrallmaniae is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Dotidae.
Carinaria cristata, commonly known as the glassy nautilus, is a species of pelagic marine gastropod mollusc in the family Carinariidae. It is found in the Pacific Ocean and is described as being holoplanktonic, because it spends its entire life as part of the plankton. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1767. Its fragile shell was much prized by early conchologists for their collections, being so rare that it was said to be worth more than its weight in gold.
Philinopsis speciosa, the blue-lined philinopsis, is a species of sea slug, a shell-less opisthobranch gastropod mollusc in the family Aglajidae.
Philinopsis capensis, the slipper slug, is a species of sea slug, a shell-less opisthobranch gastropod mollusc in the family Aglajidae.
Aglaja tricolorata is a species of sea slug, an opisthobranch gastropod mollusc in the family Aglajidae. It is native to the Mediterranean Sea and the tropical eastern Atlantic Ocean where it lives in shallow water on the sandy seabed.
Philine quadripartita is a species of sea slugs or sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs that has in recent times been referred to as Philine aperta in the North East Atlantic, but several recent studies studying anatomical traits such as the reproductive anatomy and DNA has shown that P. quadripartita and P. aperta are two distinct species.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) 
This article incorporates textfrom this source, which is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.