Okenia stellata

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

Okenia stellata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Euctenidiacea
clade Doridacea
Superfamily:
Onchidoridoidea
Family:
Goniodorididae
Genus:
Okenia
Species:
O. stellata
Binomial name
Okenia stellata
Rudman, 2004[1]

Distribution

This species was described from Australia. It is known from central New South Wales north to Northern Australia and on the west coast south to Kimberley in Western Australia.[3]

Description

This Okenia has an ovate body and long lateral papillae held in a radiating pattern. The body is bright pink and just the tips of the mantle processes, the gills and the rhinophores are a deeper pink. There is a pattern of thin red lines on the back.

Ecology

The diet of this species is the bryozoan Pleurotoichus clathratus. It is very similar to Okenia hallucigenia and can be found with this species on the same food. Okenia nakamotoensis and Okenia kondoi are a pair of species from southern Japan, the Marshall Islands, the Philippines and Indonesia which are also similar to this species.

References
  1. Rudman W.B. (2004) Further species of the opisthobranch genus Okenia (Nudibranchia: Goniodorididae) from the Indo-West Pacific. Zootaxa 695 : 1-70
  2. Bouchet, P. (2015). Okenia stellata Rudman, 2004. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-10-21
  3. Rudman, W.B., 2004 (December 21) Okenia stellata Rudman, 2004. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
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