Tritoniella
Tritoniella | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Order: | Nudibranchia |
Suborder: | Cladobranchia |
Superfamily: | Tritonioidea |
Family: | Tritoniidae |
Genus: | Tritoniella Eliot, 1907[2] |
Species: | T. belli
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Binomial name | |
Tritoniella belli Eliot, 1907[1]
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Tritoniella is a genus of sea slugs, specifically dendronotid nudibranchs. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Tritoniidae. A monotypic genus, the only species is Tritoniella belli. The genus and species were both described in 1907 by the British diplomat and malacologist Charles Eliot.[1]
Description[]
Tritoniella belli can grow to a length of up to 8 cm (3 in). The edge of the mantle is wavy and either smooth or with finger-like protuberances. Most individuals have a ridge running along the middle of the back. The colour is variable, ranging from a translucent milky white to yellow or orange.[3]
Distribution[]
Tritoniella belli is found around the coasts of Antarctica and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands at depths down to about 700 m (2,300 ft).[3]
Ecology[]
Tritoniella belli is a common species of nudibranch in the shallow waters of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica.[4] Its diet mostly consists of the soft coral Clavularia frankliniana, but it may also feed on other soft corals, hydroids and sea anemones. C. frankliniana contains the distasteful chemical , and the nudibranch incorporates this into its own tissues, using it as a chemical defence to make itself unpalatable.[3]
It is avoided by the predatory starfishes Odontaster validus, and Acodontaster conspicuus because the mucus it extrudes is distasteful; it is preyed on by the sea anemone Isotealia antarctica, but 70% of the encounters between the two result in the nudibranch escaping, or the sea anemone swallowing the nudibranch but then regurgitating it from its gastrovascular cavity.[4] The gelatinous egg ribbons of the nudibranch are also eaten by I. antarctica but rejected by O. validus.[5]
References[]
- ^ a b Appeltans, Ward (2019). "Tritoniella belli Eliot, 1907". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ Appeltans, Ward (2019). "Tritoniella Eliot, 1907". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ a b c Rudman, W.B (1999). "Tritoniella belli Eliot, 1907". Sea Slug Forum. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ a b Bryan, P. J.; McClintock, J. B. & Baker, B. J. (1998). "Population biology and antipredator defenses of the shallow-water Antarctic nudibranch Tritoniella belli". Marine Biology. 132 (2): 259–265. doi:10.1007/s002270050391.
- ^ McClintock, James B. & Baker, Bill J. (1997). "Palatability and chemical defense of eggs, embryos and larvae of shallow-water antarctic marine invertebrates" (PDF). Marine Ecology Progress Series. 154: 121–131. doi:10.3354/meps154121.
- Tritoniidae
- Monotypic gastropod genera
- Fauna of the Atlantic Ocean
- Fauna of the Southern Ocean