Doriopsilla albopunctata
Doriopsilla albopunctata, the white-spotted sea goddess, is a species of dorid nudibranch, a colorful sea slug, in the family Dendrodorididae.[1][2] It is native to the Pacific Coast of North America, from Mendocino County, California south, possibly to Baja California Peninsula, Mexico.[3]
| Doriopsilla albopunctata | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
| Order: | Nudibranchia |
| Suborder: | Doridina |
| Superfamily: | Phyllidioidea |
| Family: | Dendrodorididae |
| Genus: | Doriopsilla |
| Species: | D. albopunctata |
| Binomial name | |
| Doriopsilla albopunctata (Cooper, 1863) | |
There are five other species that are quite similar to Doriopsilla albopunctata and can be confused with it: Doriopsilla bertschi (Hoover, Lindsay, Goddard & Valdés, 2015), Doriopsilla davebehrensi (Hoover, Lindsay, Goddard & Valdés, 2015), Doriopsilla fulva (MacFarland, 1905), Doriopsilla gemela (Gosliner, Schaefer & Millen, 1999), and Baptodoris mimetica (Gosliner, 1991).[3]
Distribution
This species is found from Mendocino to San Diego, California and possibly on the Pacific coast of Baja California Peninsula, Mexico.[3]
Description
This nudibranch can grow as large as 60 mm (2 1⁄2 inches). It can be yellow or orange or brown, but always with very small opaque white dots. The dots are on the tips of raised tubercles and in circles around the tubercles.[3] The rhinophores on the head end are yellow or orange-yellow in color, and the gills (the rosette at the back) are white or pale yellow.[4]
Diet
The food of Doriopsilla albopunctata needs to be clarified in the light of newly discovered species and reports may be of related species.[3] It has been reported to eat an orange sponge at Bahía de los Ángeles but this is possibly a reference to Doriopsilla bertschi.[5] It has also been reported to eat Cliona californiana, the yellow boring sponge.[6]
References
- Rosenberg, G.; Bouchet, P. (2015). Doriopsilla albopunctata (J. G. Cooper, 1863). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2016-12-13.
- Sept, J. Duane. The new beachcomber's guide to the Pacific Northwest : completely revised and expanded 2019 (2019 [edition] ed.). ISBN 9781550178579.
- Hoover C., Lindsay T., Goddard J.H.R. & Valdés A. (2015). Seeing double: pseudocryptic diversity in the Doriopsilla albopunctata–Doriopsilla gemela species complex of the north-eastern Pacific. Zoologica Scripta. 44: 612-631.
- Rudman, W.B., 2001 (August 5) Doriopsilla albopunctata (Cooper, 1863). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
- Bertsch, H., (2000) Doriopsilla albopunctata In: Miller, M. The Slug Site, accessed 2016-12-14.
- Cowles, Dave. "Cliona californiana (de Laubenfels, 1932)". Invertebrates of the Salish Sea. Walla Walla University. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
Further reading
- Behrens D. W. (1980) Pacific Coast Nudibranchs: a guide to the opisthobranchs of the northeastern Pacific, Sea Challenger Books, Washington
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