Okenia aspersa

Okenia aspersa
Okenia aspersa (Firth of Lorn, Scotland)
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. aspersa
Binomial name
Okenia aspersa (Alder & Hancock, 1845)[1]
Synonyms
Doris quadricornis Montagu, 1813 (ICZN opinion 1014: suppressed under the plenary powers for the purpose of the Principle of Priority) Idalia aspersa Alder & Hancock, 1845 (original combination) Idalia caudata Orested, 1844 Idalia modesta Verrill, 1875 Idalia pulchella Alder & Hancock, 1854 (dubious synonym) Idaliella modesta (A. E. Verrill, 1875) Okenia ascidicola M. P. Morse, 1972 Okenia leachii var. quadricornis (Montagu, 1815) Okenia modesta (A. E. Verrill, 1875) Okenia pulchella (Alder & Hancock, 1854) Okenia quadricornis (Montagu, 1815) (suppressed under ICZN Opinion 1014)

Okenia aspersa is a species of sea slug, a Dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae.^[2]

Distribution

This species was first described from Cullercoats, North Sea. It has subsequently been reported widely in Britain and Ireland and north to Norway and south to Arcachon Bay, France.

Okenia aspersa illustration accompanying the original description in A monograph of the British nudibranchiate Mollusca

Description

This goniodorid nudibranch is translucent white in colour, with spots and blotches of red-brown and cream It shows marbling over the body, on the pallial tentacles, rhinophores and gills.^[3]

Ecology

Okenia aspersa feeds on the tunicate Molgula occulta, family Molgulidae which lives buried in muddy sand seabeds.^[4]

References

1. Alder, J., & Hancock, A. (1845). A monograph of the British nudibranchiate Mollusca: with figures of all the species. Pt. 1, fam. 1, pls. 4, 5, 26; fam. 3, pls. 3, 21, 24, 26, 34-36. Ray Society, London.
2. Gofas, S. (2015). Okenia aspersa (Alder & Hancock, 1845). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-04-28
3. Thompson, T. E., & G. H. Brown. 1984. Biology of opisthobranch molluscs, vol. 2, 229 pp., 41 pls. Ray Society, no. 156.
4. Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C. (2015). Okenia aspersa (Alder & Hancock, 1845). [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland.]

• Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels. 50: pp. 180–213.