Thecacera pennigera

Last updated

Thecacera pennigera
Thecacera Pennigera.jpg
The nudibranch Thecacera pennigera, Mar Piccolo of Taranto, Italy
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Nudibranchia
Superfamily: Polyceroidea
Family: Polyceridae
Genus: Thecacera
Species:
T. pennigera
Binomial name
Thecacera pennigera
Synonyms [2]
  • Doris pennigera Montagu, 1815
  • T. lamellata Barnard, 1933
  • T. maculata Eliot, 1905

Thecacera pennigera, common name the winged thecacera, is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Polyceridae. [2]

Contents

Description

Thecacera pennigera has a short, wide head with two lateral flaps and two sheathed olfactory organs called rhinophores. The body is wedge shaped, being wide at the front and ending in a slender foot with a lateral keel on either side. Halfway along the body are two long, thin, postbranchial processes with white tips. These are club-shaped and glandular and have a defensive function. A group of bipinnate or tripinnate gills lies just above and to the front of these processes. The general colour of the body is translucent white and the upper side is covered with orange splotches and small black spots. The adult length is usually between 15 millimetres (0.6 in) and 30 millimetres (1.2 in). [3] [4]

Distribution and habitat

Thecacera pennigera was described from the south coast of England. [1] It has been reported to have a cosmopolitan distribution, being found in temperate waters on either side of the North Atlantic Ocean, in the Mediterranean Sea, around South and West Africa, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, and more recently in Australia and New Zealand. [5] There is a significant difference in colouring between Atlantic populations and Pacific specimens which may indicate that this is a complex of several species rather than a single cosmopolitan species. When conditions are suitable, it can occur in considerable numbers, but often it is sporadic or even rare. It is found at depths of down to 36 metres (120 ft) living on arborescent bryozoans. In the N. E. Atlantic (type locality) it feeds exclusively on the bryozoan Bugula plumosa . [6] These sometimes foul the hulls of vessels and both the bryozoans and the nudibranch have been extending their ranges, presumably travelling by ship. [3] [4]

Biology

Like other sea slugs, Thecacera pennigera is a hermaphrodite. Packets of sperm are exchanged by mating pairs of slugs and fertilisation is internal. The fertilised eggs are deposited in strings draped across the substrate, usually bryozoans of the genus Bugula , on which the sea slug feeds. It is not clear whether there is a planktonic larval stage or whether juvenile sea slugs hatch direct from the eggs. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nudibranch</span> Order of gastropods

Nudibranchs belong to the order Nudibranchia, a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs that 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", "dragon", and "sea rabbit". Currently, about 3,000 valid species of nudibranchs are known.

<i>Glaucus atlanticus</i> Species of mollusc

Glaucus atlanticus is a species of sea slug in the family Glaucidae.

<i>Aeolidia papillosa</i> Species of gastropod

Aeolidia papillosa, known as the common grey sea slug, is a species of nudibranch in the family Aeolidiidae.

<i>Nembrotha lineolata</i> Species of gastropod

Nembrotha lineolata is a species of nudibranch, a sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Polyceridae. It is found in shallow water in the Indo-Pacific. It was first described in 1905 by the Danish malacologist Rudolph Bergh. The type locality is Selayar Island, Indonesia.

<i>Dirona pellucida</i> Species of gastropod

Dirona pellucida is a species of sea slug, a northern Pacific Ocean nudibranch, a marine, opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Dironidae.

<i>Polycera faeroensis</i> Species of gastropod

Polycera faeroensis is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Polyceridae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gasflame nudibranch</span> Species of gastropod

The gasflame nudibranch is a very colourful species of nudibranch, or sea slug. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Proctonotidae. Bonisa nakaza is the only species in the genus Bonisa.

<i>Thecacera</i> Genus of gastropods

Thecacera is a genus of sea slugs, specifically nudibranchs, shell-less marine gastropod mollusks in the family Polyceridae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowned nudibranch</span> Species of gastropod

The crowned nudibranch is a species of dorid nudibranch. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Polyceridae.

<i>Doto coronata</i> Species of mollusc

Doto coronata is a species of small sea slug or nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Dotidae. It is the type species of the genus Doto.

<i>Leptogorgia virgulata</i> Species of coral

Leptogorgia virgulata, commonly known as the sea whip or colorful sea whip, is a species of soft coral in the family Gorgoniidae.

<i>Edmundsella pedata</i> Species of gastropod

Edmundsella pedata is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Flabellinidae.

<i>Okenia zoobotryon</i> Species of gastropod

Okenia zoobotryon is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae. It is normally found on the colonial bryozoan Amathia verticillata on which it lives and feeds.

<i>Antiopella cristata</i> Species of gastropod

Antiopella cristata, sometimes known by the common name crested aeolis, is a species of nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Janolidae.

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

<i>Polycera atra</i> Species of gastropod

Polycera atra, common name orange-spike polycera or sorcerer's sea slug, is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Polyceridae.

<i>Onchidoris proxima</i> Species of gastropod

Onchidoris proxima is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Onchidorididae. This species is found in the northeastern and northwestern parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also reported from the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Previously in the genus Adalaria this species was moved to Onchidoris as a result of a molecular phylogeny study.

<i>Aeolidiella alderi</i> Species of gastropod

Aeolidiella alderi is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch in the family Aeolidiidae. It is native to northwestern Europe where it occurs in the intertidal zone. It is a predator and feeds on sea anemones.

Bicellariella ciliata is a species of bryozoan belonging to the family Bugulidae. It is found in shallow water on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indo-Pacific region.

<i>Phestilla viei</i> Coral-feeding sea slug

Phestilla viei is a species of coral-feeding sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, from the family Trinchesiidae, described in 2020. It has been identified as a sister species of Phestilla fuscostriata based on DNA barcoding using the COI gene. The genus Phestilla currently includes nine recognized species, eight of which are obligate corallivores, with each particular species predating on only one species or genus of coral. Its distribution is restricted to the Indo-Pacific Ocean.

References

  1. 1 2 Montagu G. (1815). Descriptions of several new or rare animals, principally marine, discovered on the South coast of Devonshire. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 11: 1–26
  2. 1 2 Thecacera pennigera (Montagu, 1815) World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  3. 1 2 3 Thecacera pennigera (Winged Thecacera) Smithsonian Marine Station. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  4. 1 2 Thecacera pennigera Marine Species Identification Portal. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  5. ↑ Rudman, W.B., 1997 (December 19) Thecacera pennigera (Montagu, 1815). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  6. ↑ Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C., 2010. Thecacera pennigera (Montagu, 1813). [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.