| Pleurobranchaea maculata | |
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| Species: | P. maculata |
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| Pleurobranchaea maculata | |
Pleurobranchaea maculata, or the grey side-gilled slug, is a species of sea slug, specifically a side-gill slug or notaspidean. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurobranchaeidae. [1]
This species occurs around the North Island and South Island of New Zealand. In 2009 it was reported far outside its native range, on the coast of Argentina from where it spread rapidly, currently encompassing ca. 2,000 km along the southwestern Atlantic coast. [2] [3]
This side-gill slug is found intertidally in harbours and to depths of up to 6 m or deeper off rocky coasts. It is often washed ashore during spring storms. [4]
This marine slug is 80 to 100 mm in length, with southern specimens somewhat larger. Its colour is a mottled pale grey, densely patterned with short, brown broken lines. The wedge-shaped head has two sensory tentacles or rhinophores. The mantle is smooth in texture, but covered with folds and puckers, and the foot extends well beyond it. There is no remnant of a shell, and the feathery gill is tucked under the right side of the mantle. [4]
This slug eats mostly sea anemones but will take marine worms, mussels, dead or dying animals, and other Pleurobrachaea sea slugs. [4] It lives for 2–3 years and dies after spawning in winter. [4]
In 2009, a major scare in the Auckland Region of New Zealand was sparked after several dogs died of tetrodotoxin poisoning after eating Pleurobranchaea maculata on beaches. [5] Children and pet owners were asked to avoid beaches, and recreational fishing was also interrupted for a time. After exhaustive analysis, it was found that the sea slugs must have ingested tetrodotoxin. [6]
Scorpaena cardinalis, the eastern red scorpionfish, grandfather hapuku, cardinal scorpionfish, Cook's scorpionfish, Cook's rockcod, Kermadec scorpionfish, Northern scorpionfish, red scorpion fish, red scorpion-cod or Sandy-bay cod, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. It is found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
Amalda australis, common name the southern olive, is a medium-sized sea snail, a gastropod mollusc of the family Ancillariidae. These predatory snails live in the inter-tidal sand, an environment that lends itself to high probability of fossilization. Amalda australis fossils date back to the Pliocene and reveal morphological stasis.
Amalda mucronata is a species of medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ancillariidae. These snails live in the sandy subtidal near-shore environment where they eat bivalves. Fossil material of this species provides evidence of morphological stasis over 5 million years
Onithochiton neglectus neglectus is a subspecies of chiton in the family Chitonidae.
Woodworthia maculata, also known as the New Zealand common gecko or Raukawa gecko, is a species in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to New Zealand.
Carnley Harbour is a large natural harbour in the south of the Auckland Islands, a subantarctic part of the New Zealand Outlying Islands. Formed from the drowned crater of an extinct volcano, the harbour separates the mainland of Auckland Island from the smaller Adams Island. The harbour is sometimes referred to as the Adams Straits.
Oligosoma taumakae, the Open Bay Island(s) skink, or Taumaka skink, is a species of skink. It was described from the Open Bay Islands, off the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
Smeagol is a genus of small air-breathing sea slugs of the upper intertidal zone. They are pulmonate gastropod mollusks related to land slugs and snails.
Pleurobranchaea is a genus of sea slugs, specifically sidegill slugs or notaspideans. These are marine gastropod molluscs in the family Pleurobranchaeidae. The genus is differentiated from other sidegill slugs by its rhinophores, which are well separated, rather than being joined under the notum. This genus has recently been coined sea owls which is the common name in Japanese for Pleurobranchaea japonica.
Chromodoris orientalis is a species of colourful sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae. Sea slugs are generally very beautifully colored organisms with intense patterns and ranging in sizes. The Chromodoris orientalis specifically is a white sea slug with black spots in no particular pattern with a yellow, orange, or brown in color ring around its whole body and on its gills. There is much discussion on where it is found, what it eats, how it defends itself without a shell, and its reproduction methods. This is all sought after information because there is not much known about these animals.
Seguenzia compta is a species of extremely small deep water sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Seguenziidae.
Suteria ide is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial gastropod mollusc in the family Charopidae .This species is endemic to New Zealand.
Weeleus acutus is an antlion of the tribe Distoleontini, and the sole member of the genus Weeleus. It is endemic to New Zealand, and is widely distributed, being recorded from Kerikeri to Wakatipu. This species was first described by Francis Walker in 1853 from a specimen presented by Andrew Sinclair.
Mecodema curvidens Broun is a medium-bodied ground beetle that is geographically widespread throughout the central areas of the North Island, New Zealand, which includes the entomological regions of Auckland (AK), Waikato (WO), Coromandel (CL), Bay of Plenty (BP), Taupo (TO), Rangitikei (RI), Whanganui (WI), Hawkes Bay (HB) and Wellington (WN). Recently, the species M. occiputale Broun was synonymised under M. curvidens. Mecodema curvidens is relatively common through its range except in the southern area of the Hunua Ranges (Auckland) and Wellington regions.
Wētā is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemic to New Zealand. They are giant flightless crickets, and some are among the heaviest insects in the world. Generally nocturnal, most small species are carnivores and scavengers while the larger species are herbivorous. Although some endemic birds likely prey on them, wētā are disproportionately preyed upon by introduced mammals, and some species are now critically endangered.
Confuga is a genus of planthoppers in the family Cixiidae. Its only species is Confuga persephone, a troglobitic (cave-dwelling) planthopper that is endemic to New Zealand. It is the only known species of cave-dwelling planthopper in New Zealand.
The Tangahoe Formation is a geologic formation in the southwestern North Island of New Zealand.
Apterygon okarito is a species of louse belonging to the family Menoponidae.
Ecnomina zealandica is a species of caddisfly belonging to the family Ecnomidae. The species was first described by Keith Arthur John Wise in 1958, and is endemic to New Zealand.
Aucklandobius turbotti is a species of stonefly in the family Gripopterygidae. The species was first described by Joachim Illies in 1963, and is endemic to the Auckland Islands of New Zealand.
