Triopha catalinae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sea clown triopha
Triopha catalinae 1.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Euctenidiacea
clade Doridacea
Superfamily:
Family:
Subfamily:
Genus:
Species:
T. catalinae
Binomial name
Triopha catalinae
(Cooper, 1863)

Triopha catalinae, commonly known as the sea clown triopha or sea clown, is a species of colorful sea slug called a nudibranch. Sea clowns are a shell-less marine, gastronomic mollusk in the taxonomic family Polyceridae.

The species' Latin name is named after Santa Catalina Island, California.

Distribution[]

This species lives in the Western Pacific from Alaska to Mexico, and has also been found in Japan and South Korea.[1][2]

Life habits[]

This nudibranch grazes on bryozoans.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ Berhrens, D. W., 1980, Pacific Coast Nudibranchs: A guide to the opisthobranchs of the northeastern Pacific, Sea Challenger Books, Washington.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Triopha catalinae (Cooper, 1863) Archived 16 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine Sea Slug Forum, accessed 17 July 2009.

External links[]

  • SEM images of the radula can be found at Thompson, T.E.; Bebbington, A. (1973). "Scanning electron microscope studies of gastropod radulae". Malacologia. 14: 147–165.

Retrieved from ""