Cuthona willani Cervera, García-Gómez & López-González, 1992
Superdomain | Biota | |
Kingdom | Animalia | |
Phylum | Mollusca | |
Class | Gastropoda | |
Subclass | Heterobranchia | |
Infraclass | Euthyneura | |
Subterclass | Ringipleura | |
Superorder | Nudipleura | |
Order | Nudibranchia | |
Suborder | Cladobranchia | |
Superfamily | Fionoidea | |
Family | Cuthonidae | |
Genus | Cuthona | |
Species | Cuthona willani Cervera, García-Gómez & López-González, 1992 | |
| Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017) Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 141637). | ||
Up to 12mm in length. The body color is translucent yellowish white, pigmented yellow or slightly garnet, with iridescent reddish spots that are distributed over different parts of the body, such as the sides of the head and the right side of the pericardial area, sometimes absent in juveniles. The rhinophores and oral tentacles have the same length and appearance, and are cylindrical, long, with iridescent red spots at the base, a characteristic reddish enlargement in the middle area, and hyaline yellow apices. Cerata appear in oblique rows that form 10-13 groups, exhibiting a reddish-yellow hue and two enlargements: a fairly evident subapical one, delimited by two reddish rings and another enlargement close to the base. The apex of the cerata is hyaline yellow and may have a rounded shape if the animal is relaxed, or a pointed shape if the animal is stressed, with the cnidosac extended. The base of the cerata allows to see the interior digestive gland, which is dark brown in color, but at the base of the cerata it is seen as reddish brown. The foot has rounded corners on its anterior part and a relatively long and pointed tail on the rear. The anus is acleioproct and the genital pore is located under the second row of cerata on the right side.
Biology
It lives in rocky infralittoral bottoms. The egg spawn consists of a spiral of 2-3 whorls forming a cup with triangular section walls and a rough surface. Each capsule contains a single spherical egg about 97-117 microns in diameter.
Etymology
- Willani. In honor to Dr. Richard C. Willan (1952-) from the University of Queensland (Australia) for his excellent contributions to the knowledge of sea slugs.
Distribution
Known only from the coasts of Huelva and the South of Portugal, in 1995 its presence was reported in the Canary Islands and in 2001 in Témara, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.
| 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
Further reading
Cite this article as:
Ballesteros, M., Madrenas, E. & Pontes, M. (2012-2025) "Cuthona willani" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 19/01/2021. Accessed: 03/02/2025. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=31422)
