Jorunna parva

Jorunna parva
Jorunna parva
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Euctenidiacea
clade Doridacea
Superfamily: Doridoidea
Family: Discodorididae
Genus: Jorunna
Species: J. parva
Binomial name
Jorunna parva
(Baba, 1938)[1]
Synonyms[2]

Thordisa parva Baba, 1938

Jorunna parva is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Discodorididae. The species was first described by Kikutaro Baba.[2] The resemblance of Jorunna parva's rhinophores to bunny ears and its other features facilitated a surge in popularity on Twitter throughout Japan in 2015.[3] The rhinophores are classified as sensory organs for the act of chemoreception.[4] Sea slugs eat sponges, which contain toxins. Those toxins are used for cancer treatments. Sea bunnies are considered to be one of 16 species in the family Discodorididae.[4] The fur is called caryophyllidae, which is composed of fleshy protuberances called papillae, as well as spicules, which are used for sensory functions.[5]

The Jorunna Parva are hermaphrodites, which means they produce both sperm and egg cells. They cannot fertilize the eggs themselves.[6] The sea bunnies additionally have different colors as well. There are yellow sea bunnies with black specks all around the body. There is also a greenish colored sea bunny, but photos are very rare.[6] Although the color differentiation is related to the Jorunna parva, there is controversy in whether or not the different colors are classified as divergent species.[6]

Distribution

This species was described from Kii Province, Japan. Jorunna parva has subsequently been reported from the Philippines, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Réunion but there are some doubts as to whether it is really a species complex.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Baba, K. (1938) Opisthobranchia of Kii, Middle Japan. Journal of the Dept of Agriculture, Kyushu Imperial University, 6(1): 1-19.
  2. 1 2 Bouchet, P. (2010). Jorunna parva (Baba, 1938). World Register of Marine Species.
  3. ↑ Kearns, Landess (July 15, 2015). "Fluffy Bunny Sea Slugs Make Us Want To Cuddle Them". Huffington Post.
  4. 1 2 "The Science of Sea Bunnies: You'll Never Believe The Top Ten List We Created To Get You To Visit Our Website". Deep Sea News. 2015-07-19. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  5. ↑ "The Science of Sea Bunnies: You'll Never Believe The Top Ten List We Created To Get You To Visit Our Website". Deep Sea News. July 19, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2017. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  6. 1 2 3 Badore, Margaret (July 20, 2015). "The adorable science behind the "sea bunny"". Treehugge.com. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  7. ↑ Rudman, W.B., 2000 (July 4) Jorunna parva? (Baba, 1938). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  • Camacho-García Y.E. & Gosliner T.M. (2008). Systematic revision of Jorunna Bergh, 1876 (Nudibranchia: Discodorididae) with a morphological phylogenetic analysis. Journal of Molluscan Studies 74: 143-181
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