Okenia aspersa
Okenia aspersa (Firth of Lorn, Scotland)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Nudibranchia
Suborder: Doridina
Superfamily: Onchidoridoidea
Family: Goniodorididae
Genus: Okenia
Species:
O. aspersa
Binomial name
Okenia aspersa
(Alder & Hancock, 1845)[1]
Synonyms
  • Doris quadricornis Montagu, 1813 (ICZN opinion 1014: suppressed under the plenary powers for the purpose of the Principle of Priority)
  • Idalia aspersa Alder & Hancock, 1845 (original combination)
  • Idalia caudata Orested, 1844
  • Idalia modesta Verrill, 1875
  • Idalia pulchella Alder & Hancock, 1854 (dubious synonym)
  • Idaliella modesta (A. E. Verrill, 1875)
  • Okenia leachii var. quadricornis (Montagu, 1815)
  • Okenia modesta (A. E. Verrill, 1875)
  • Okenia quadricornis (Montagu, 1815) (suppressed under ICZN Opinion 1014)

Okenia aspersa is a species of sea slug, a Dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae.[2]

Distribution

This species was first described from Cullercoats, North Sea. It has subsequently been reported widely in Britain and Ireland and north to Norway and south to Arcachon Bay, France.[3]

Okenia aspersa illustration accompanying the original description in A monograph of the British nudibranchiate Mollusca

Description

This goniodorid nudibranch is translucent white in colour, with spots and blotches of red-brown and cream It shows marbling over the body, on the pallial tentacles, rhinophores and gills.[4]

Ecology

Okenia aspersa feeds on the tunicate Molgula occulta, family Molgulidae which lives buried in muddy sand seabeds.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Alder, J., & Hancock, A. (1845). A monograph of the British nudibranchiate Mollusca: with figures of all the species. Pt. 1, fam. 1, pls. 4, 5, 26; fam. 3, pls. 3, 21, 24, 26, 34-36. Ray Society, London.
  2. ↑ Okenia aspersa (Alder & Hancock, 1845). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 10 January 2019.
  3. ↑ Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels. 50: pp. 180–213.
  4. ↑ Thompson, T. E., & G. H. Brown. 1984. Biology of opisthobranch molluscs, vol. 2, 229 pp., 41 pls. Ray Society, no. 156.
  5. ↑ Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C. (2015). Okenia aspersa (Alder & Hancock, 1845). [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland.]
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