Doto fragaria Ortea & Bouchet, 1989
WoRMS Taxonomic Information
Current classification
| Superdomain | Biota |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Mollusca |
| Class | Gastropoda |
| Subclass | Heterobranchia |
| Infraclass | Euthyneura |
| Subterclass | Ringipleura |
| Superorder | Nudipleura |
| Order | Nudibranchia |
| Suborder | Cladobranchia |
| Superfamily | Dendronotoidea |
| Family | Dotidae |
| Genus | Doto |
| Species | Doto fragaria Ortea & Bouchet, 1989 |
White hyaline and semi-transparent body, allowing to see the cream coloured viscera inside. Some irregular brown spots on the dorsum and base of the cerata. Long rhinophores with white scores. Rhinophoric sheaths slightly open at the end, which is pigmented white, sometimes with a brown spot on the outer or inner face of the rhinophoric sheath. Four to five pairs of cerata on the back. The cerata have 4-5 groups of rounded tubercles that have a thick bluish-gray spot inside; The apical tubercle is also rounded. The digestive gland inside the cerata is a mild strawberry color (hence the specific name). The anal papilla is white and is between the first two cerata on the right side.
Biology
It lives on algae and Posidonia oceanica leaves with epibiont hydrarians. The spawn is 1-2 mm long, has a kidney shape and contains white eggs of about 100 microns.
Etymology
- Doto, from Latin Doto, a sea nymph, from Greek Dōtō
- Fragaria, because of the digestive gland colour, that reminds wild strawberries.
Distribution
After its description from specimens collected in northern Corsica (France), it has been located in the Gulf of Taranto (Italy) and in the Mediterranean Spanish coasts. In Catalonia it is considered a rare species that has only been observed in a few locations in the Costa Brava such as Cadaqués, L’Escala and Sant Feliu de Guíxols.
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Similar species
Doto rosea also has rounded ceratal tubercles, but these do not have the round dark spot present in D. fragaria, nor the red coloured digestive gland.
Abundance
| Western Mediterranean: | ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Eastern Mediterranean: | ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Atlantic Ocean: | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
This chart displays the monthly observation probability for Doto fragaria based on our own records.
More pictures
Bibliography
Further reading
Cite this article as:
Ballesteros, M., Madrenas, E. & Pontes, M. (2025) "Doto fragaria" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 16/10/2015. Accessed: 03/09/2026. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=20051)
