Doto pita Er. Marcus, 1955
Body up to 7 mm. long. The colour of body and cerata is yellowish gray beneath a translucent white epidermis, with brownish spots on the back (missing in some NE Atlantic specimens) and some white spot on the head and cardiac area. The clubs of the rhinophores are smooth, with the base stained in red in Western Atlantic older specimens (but not in Eastern Atlantic ones) and with white spots to the tip. Funnel-shaped, tight and short rhinophoric sheaths whose margin is even and coloured white because of white spots accumulation, Eastern Atlantic specimens have the inside of the sheath pigmented in red continuing the dorsal pigmentation. Cerata along the dorsal margins are setup in similar sized 3-4 pairs, and another less developed pair closer to the tail. No distinct branchial thickenings at the base of cerata. Cerata shape is somewhat jaggy, the greatest width lies above the middle, with a conical tip. Each cera bears a few irregularly scattered, bluntly angled, small conical tubercles that do not form circlets, with characteristic small white spheres inside. Digestive gland inside the cerata may vary from white to cream-orange. The foot is narrow and ends in a pointed tail. The cephalic velum has very reduced lobes. Gonopore located below first right cera, anus right behind but in dorsal position, showing a cylindric anal papilla.
Biology
Often found on Padina and Galaxaura sea weeds in the Atlantic coasts of America, found on hydrarians in the Canary Islands. The egg spawn is laid along the stolons of the Sertulariids it feeds on, shaped as a thin cord of white eggs laid in spiral on the hydrozoa.
Etymology
- Doto, from Latin Doto, a sea nymph, from Greek Dōtō.
- Pita. Marcus was not prone to explain the origin of the species he described. However, pita is a fiber obtained from the plant Agave americana and other similar species, used for making cordage and paper.
Distribution
Described at Island of São Sebastião, Brazil (Marcus, 1955); Ilhabela, Brazil (Marcus, 1957); Frigate Bay, St. Kitts (Marcus & Marcus, 1963); Virginia Key, Miami, Florida (Marcus & Marcus, 1963). Also from Madeira (Wirtz, 1999) and the Canary Islands (Ortea et al., 1999). Records from Japan (Baba, 1971) and Australia (GBIF) probably correspond to a similar but distinct species because D. pita is only known from the Atlantic.
| 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 |
Abundance
| Western Mediterranean: | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Eastern Mediterranean: | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
| Atlantic Ocean: | ★☆☆☆☆ |
More pictures
Bibliography
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Further reading
Cite this article as:
Pontes, Miquel (2023) "Doto pita" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 06/03/2021. Accessed: 07/06/2023. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/4msqT)
