Guide to Opisthobranchs Nudibranchia Cladobranchia Aeolidioidea Limenandra nodosa

Limenandra nodosa

Limenandra nodosa (Haefelfinger & Stamm, 1958)

Limenandra nodosa by Enric Madrenas

Taxonomy

	Superdomain	Biota
	Kingdom	Animalia
	Phylum	Mollusca
	Class	Gastropoda
	Subclass	Heterobranchia
	Infraclass	Euthyneura
	Subterclass	Ringipleura
	Superorder	Nudipleura
	Order	Nudibranchia
	Suborder	Cladobranchia
	Superfamily	Aeolidioidea
	Family	Aeolidiidae
	Genus	Limenandra
	Species	Limenandra nodosa Haefelfinger & Stamm, 1958

	Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017) Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 599581).

Synonyms

Baeolidia nodosa (Haefelfinger & Stamm, 1958)

Description
This species is characterized by having a very narrow and elongated body, that can reach a length of 25 mm. The color of the body is usually a somewhat opaque olive green although some specimens can be whitish. A very characteristic feature is the presence of circular spots on the back of the body; these spots are composed of concentric circles of different colors, which usually are, from the outside inwards, a white circle, a yellow circle, a red circle and a white circle in the center. The number of circles varies according to the size of the animal. There are numerous whitish spots throughout the body, rhinophores and ceratas. The oral tentacles are relatively short and robust and have the same color as the body. The rhinophores are large and thin, possessing numerous elongated protuberances of different sizes, some bifurcated, more numerous in the back side of the rhinophore. In larger specimens there could be up to 14 groups of ceratas on each side of the body, well separated from each other. The frontmost pair of ceratas is located close to the rinophores. The front groups have 5-7 ceratas whose size decreases from the most central to the most lateral. The rearmost groups have between 3-4 ceratas and just one the terminal groups. The most characteristic trait of ceratas is that they are somewhat dorso-ventrally flattened and they are not smooth but have small tubercles of different sizes. The color of the ceratas is the same as the rest of the body, but in some specimens there is some green pigment on its surface and a pink spot at the base of the cerata. Ceratas tend to be easily autotomized and can be regenerated later. The foot is narrow and in its anterior zone it differentiates two short propodial tentacles separated by a deep central furrow. The anal orifice is behind the third group of right cerata while the gonophore is located between the second and third groups also on the right side.

Biology
The first Mediterranean specimens, that were used for the description of the species, were collected in Posidonia oceanica beds (Haefelfinger & Stamm, 1958) but it has also been reported living in Cymodocea and Zostera seabeds (Schmekel, 1968). Very few details are known of the biology of this species, appart of being extremely cryptic on any type of substrate. Schmekel (1968) indicates that it feeds on the anemone Bunodeopsis strumosa, which usually lives on leaves of Posidonia oceanica and with which it keeps a perfect mimicry.

Etymology

Nodosa, from Latin “nodosus”, full of knots, knobs.

Distribution
This species, originally from the Mediterranean area, has also been recorded in the European Atlantic, Madeira, Canary Islands and the Caribbean (Er. Marcus and Ev. Marcus 1970; Redfern 2001; Ortea et al., 2001; Valdés et al., 2006; Carmona et al., 2014), so it is an amphiatlanic species. In the Iberian Peninsula it has been reported in the Levantine coasts, in the Balearics and in Catalonia (Templado, 1982, Ballesteros & Templado, 1996). In the Catalan coasts it has been found in different localities of the Costa Brava (Es Caials, L’Escala, Cala Aiguafreda, Sant Feliu de Guixols, Els Ullastres, Cala Margarida, Palamós, Blanes), Mataró and L’Ametlla de Mar.
It has been proven that the records of L. nodosa from the Pacific coasts (Gosliner 1980; Camacho-García et al., 2005; Gosliner et al., 2008), really refer to a new different species, L. confusa, extremely cryptic with L nodosa (Carmona et al., 2014).

Known georeferenced records of the species: Limenandra nodosa
Sources:
: OBIS : GROC 2010-2011 : Enric Madrenas : João Pedro Silva : Bernard Picton : GBIF.ORG	: OPK : VIMAR : Manuel Ballesteros. : M@re Nostrum : Altres fonts : Marine Regions

Similar species
Because of its appearance, it is not possible to confuse it with any other species.

Abundance

Western Mediterranean:	★☆☆☆☆
Eastern Mediterranean:	☆☆☆☆☆
Atlantic Ocean:	★☆☆☆☆

Month

This chart displays the monthly observation probability for Limenandra nodosa based on our own records.

Videos

More pictures

Limenandra nodosa

Limenandra nodosa @ Lake Worth Lagoon, riviera beach, Florida on May 11, 2016 by Ariane Dimitris

Limenandra nodosa @ Lake Worth Lagoon, riviera beach, Florida on May 11, 2016 by Ariane Dimitris (camouflage)

Limenandra nodosa @ Lake Worth Lagoon, riviera beach, Florida on May 11, 2016 by Ariane Dimitris (compass)

Limenandra nodosa @ Lake Worth Lagoon, riviera beach, Florida on May 11, 2016 by Ariane Dimitris

Limenandra nodosa 6mm @ Gran Canaria 6-02-2021 by Sabina López

Limenandra nodosa @ France by Pascal Girard

Limenandra nodosa @ Granada por Luis Sánchez Tocino

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Further reading

Cite this article as:

Ballesteros, M., Madrenas, E. & Pontes, M. (2012-2025) "Limenandra nodosa" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 16/05/2012. Accessed: 03/02/2025. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=572)

Limenandra nodosa