Diaulula sandiegensis

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Diaulula sandiegensis
Diaulula sandiegensis mating.jpg
A pair of Diaulula sandiegensis mating
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Nudibranchia
Suborder: Doridina
Superfamily: Doridoidea
Family: Discodorididae
Genus: Diaulula
Species:
D. sandiegensis
Binomial name
Diaulula sandiegensis
(Cooper, 1862)[1]

Diaulula sandiegensis is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Discodorididae.[2]

The specific epithet sandiegensis means: "of San Diego", the Southern California city.

Distribution[]

This dorid nudibranch occurs in the eastern Pacific, from Barkley Sound, British Columbia to Baja California, Mexico. It has been confused with Diaulula boreopacifica which has a more northerly range and also occurs in Japan and Russia.[3]

Description[]

This nudibranch grows to about 100 mm (4") in length. The background color can be white or any shade of yellow to a yellowish brown, and it has characteristic markings consisting of a few brown rings or irregular spots.[4][5] Specimens with more numerous spots are Diaulula odonoghuei.[6][3]

  • Diaulula sandiegensis

  • In a central California tidepool

Life habits[]

This species feeds on sponges.

References[]

  1. ^ Cooper, J.G. (1862). Some new genera and species of Californian mollusca. Proceedings of the Californian Academy of Natural Sciences, 2: 202-207
  2. ^ Rosenberg, G.; Bouchet, P. (2015). Diaulula sandiegensis (J. G. Cooper, 1863). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2016-12-04.
  3. ^ a b Lindsay, T., Kelly, J., Chichvarkhin, A., Craig, S., Kajihara, H., Mackie, J & Valdés, A. (2016). Changing spots: pseudocryptic speciation in the North Pacific dorid nudibranch Diaulula sandiegensis (Cooper, 1862) (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia). Journal of Molluscan Studies doi:10.1093/mollus/eyw026
  4. ^ Behrens D. W., (1980). Pacific Coast Nudibranchs: a guide to the opisthobranchs of the northeastern Pacific, Sea Challenger Books, Washington
  5. ^ Rudman, W.B., 2000 (July 4) Diaulula sandiegensis (Cooper, 1862). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  6. ^ Kocian, J., 2006 (Apr 21) Diaulula sandiegensis from Puget Sound. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
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