Diaulula sandiegensis

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

Diaulula sandiegensis
A pair of Diaulula sandiegensis mating
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
Superfamily:
Doridoidea
Family:
Discodorididae
Genus:
Diaulula
Species:
D. sandiegensis
Binomial name
Diaulula sandiegensis
(Cooper, 1862)[1]

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.

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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. 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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