Limacia cockerelli

Limacia cockerelli
Limacia cockerelli
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Euctenidiacea
clade Doridacea

Superfamily: Polyceroidea
Family: Polyceridae
Subfamily: Triophinae
Tribe: Limaciini
Genus: Limacia
Species: L. cockerelli
Binomial name
Limacia cockerelli
(MacFarland, 1905)[1]
Synonyms

Laila cockerelli

Limacia cockerelli is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Polyceridae.[2][3]

Distribution

This species is found from the West coast of North America ranging from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada to Baja California. It has also been reported in the Gulf of California at Bahía de los Ángeles.[4]

Limacia cockerelli

Description

This species reaches lengths of 26 mm. It has long dorsal papillae with white branchial plumes.[5] It is found in two forms. The northern form has white tubercles down the middle of the dorsum. The second form, found in areas south of Point Conception have tubercles that are slightly longer and tipped with orange. Intermediate forms exist in central and northern California.[6] Another form in California has large red blotches on the dorsum. The eggs of the Limacia cockerelli are pink and develop after 17 days, (at 10-13 degrees C), into hatching planktotrophic veligers. It is likely that these forms represent a species complex.[7]

Diet

This animal preys exclusively on the orange-brown coloured bryozoan, Hincksina velata.[4]

References

  1. MacFarland, Frank Mace (1905) A preliminary account of the Dorididae of Monterey Bay, California. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 18: 35-54.
  2. Bouchet, P. (2015). Limacia cockerelli (MacFarland, 1905). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-12-22
  3. Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.); Frýda J., Hausdorf B., Ponder W., Valdes A. & Warén A. (2005) Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families. Malacologia: International Journal of Malacology, 47(1-2). ConchBooks: Hackenheim, Germany. ISBN 3-925919-72-4. ISSN 0076-2997. 397 pp.
  4. 1 2 Goddard, J.H.R., 2000 (July 3) Limacia cockerelli (MacFarland, 1905). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  5. Behrens, D. (2006) Limacia cockerelli At Miller, M. (2015) The Slug Site.
  6. McDonald, G., (2015) Limacia cockerelli Intertidal Invertebrates of the Monterey Bay Area, California
  7. Caballer Gutiérrez, M., Almón Pazos, B., Pérez Dieste, J., (2015) The sea slug genus Limacia Müller, 1781 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) in Europe. Cahiers de Biologie Marine 57:35-42.

Further reading

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