Triopha maculata

Triopha maculata, common name spotted triopha or speckled triopha, is a species of colorful sea slug, a nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Polyceridae. This species is very variable in color.

Triopha maculata
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
Genus:
Triopha
Species:
T. maculata
Binomial name
Triopha maculata
Triopha maculata ADULT with egg mass on giant kelp (Morro Bay, California)

Distribution

This nudibranch lives in the eastern Pacific Ocean, from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Baja California, Mexico. It also lives in Japan.

Description

Triopha maculata can, on rare occasions, grow as large as 180 mm (a little more than 7 inches) but usually the maximum length is 50 mm (about 2 inches.)

The color can be a very pale and translucent yellow, or it can be a darker yellow, orange, red, and even dark brown. There are always raised whitish spots, hence the name maculata, meaning spotted.

Life habits

This species feeds on bryozoans.

  • A 5 mm juvenile of the yellow form of Triopha maculata in a California tide pool.
  • A brown individual of Triopha maculata in a Central California tide pool.
  • Very colorful Triopha maculata at Hazard Reef, Montana de Oro State Park.
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References

    Behrens, D.W., 1980, Pacific Coast Nudibranchs: a guide to the opisthobranchs of the northeastern Pacific, Sea Challenger Books, Washington.

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