Home Guide to Opisthobranchs Nudibranchia Cladobranchia Dendronotoidea Hancockia uncinata

Hancockia uncinata

Hancockia uncinata (Hesse, 1872)

Hancockia uncinata @ Costa Brava, Spain 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

Dendronotoidea  

 

Family

Hancockiidae  

 

Genus

Hancockia  

 

Species

Hancockia uncinata  (Hesse, 1872)

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 140081).
Synonyms

  • Doto uncinata Hesse, 1872 (original)
  • Govia rubra Trinchese, 1885
  • Hancockia eudactylota Gosse, 1877

Description
This dendronotacean can reach up to 10 mm in length. The body is narrow and the overall coloration can be pink or pale green depending on the substrate where the animal is found. There are usually white spots formed by small groups of white dots, the size of these spots can be quite variable and they can almost completely cover the back of the animal. These white spots may also form a nearly continuous line on each side of the body crossing the base of lateral appendages. In the head, the cephalic veil has two lobes possessing each one about 2-4 short and round tipped appendages. The rhinophores have a high sheath, trumpet shaped, and whose top edge could be toothed or lobed, that could also be decorated with white spots. The end of the rhinophore is shaped like a club and some oblique lamellae could be observed below. The tip of the rhinophore could be also pigmented white. On both sides of the body there are four lateral appendages (some authors call them cerata, as in aeolidacean nudibranchs) with a very peculiar shape: auriculate or like a fist, open at its outer side or bottom side, and several (up to 7) short digitiform appendices. Of these 4 pairs of lateral appendages, only the first pair in both sides are symmetrical, on the other pairs the appendix located at the left is somewhat more advanced than the one on the right. The foot is narrow.

Biology
This is a highly variable color species, a trait that could correspond to an adaptation to blend with different substrates (red or brown algae) on which it can be found in the search for food. Apparently feeds on hydroids of the species Clytia hemisphaerica, from which it may draw the functional nematocysts of its prey and, according to some authors, keep them in small bumps of the back, sides and rhinophoric sheath appendages, similar to what happens in eolidacean nudibranchs (kleptoplasty). The spawn is a wide scalloped ribbon, similar to that of Doto, and white eggs.

Etymology

  • Hancockia. Dedicated to Albany Hancock (1806-1873), research fellow of Joshua Adler.
  • Uncinata. From latin word for hooked.

Distribution
This species is distributed from the coasts of Northern Ireland, the British Isles, off the French coasts in the Bay of Biscay, the Iberian Peninsula and the western Mediterranean. In the Iberian Peninsula has been cited in all coastal areas including Portugal, also cited in the Balearic and Canary Islands. In Catalonia it has been observed sporadically in several places on the Costa Brava as Tossa de Mar, L’Escala, L’Estartit or El Port de la Selva, among others.

Known georeferenced records of the species: Hancockia uncinata
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: ★☆☆☆☆
Month

This chart displays the monthly observation probability for Hancockia uncinata based on our own records.

Videos

 

More pictures

Hancockia uncinata @ Costa Brava, Spain by Enric Madrenas
Hancockia uncinata @ Costa Brava, Spain by Enric Madrenas
Hancockia uncinata @ Costa Brava, Spain by Enric Madrenas
Hancockia uncinata @ Costa Brava, Spain by Enric Madrenas
Hancockia uncinata @ Costa Brava, Spain by Enric Madrenas
Hancockia uncinata @ Costa Brava, Spain by Enric Madrenas
Hancockia uncinata @ Costa Brava, Spain by Enric Madrenas
Hancockia uncinata @ Costa Brava, Spain by Miquel Pontes
Hancockia uncinata @ Costa Brava, Spain by Miquel Pontes
Hancockia uncinata @ Granada por Luis Sánchez Tocino
Hancockia uncinata @ Granada por Luis Sánchez Tocino
Hancockia uncinata @ Granada por Luis Sánchez Tocino

Bibliography

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    Bibliography based on the works by Steve Long, 2006. Bibliography of Opisthobranchia 1554-2000 and Gary McDonald, 2009. Bibliographia Nudibranchia, with later updates from other resources.

Further reading

Cite this article as:

Ballesteros, M., Madrenas, E. & Pontes, M. (2012-2025) "Hancockia uncinata" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 17/05/2012. Accessed: 03/02/2025. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=649)