Cuthona willani

Cuthona willani Cervera, García-Gómez & López-González, 1992

Cuthona willani @ Isla de Mouro, Santander by Martín Plana

Taxonomy
 

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).
Description
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.

Known georeferenced records of the species: Cuthona willani
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 Cuthona willani based on our own records.

More pictures

Bibliography

    Ballesteros M, Madrenas E, Pontes M. 2023. OPK - Opistobranquis. Available from https://opistobranquis.info/.
    Calado G, Urgorri V. 1998. Additions and new data on Portuguese Opisthobranchs. Bollettino Malacologico 35 (5- 8): 97-102.
    Cervera JL, García-Gómez JC, García García FJ, et al. 2011. Familia Tergipedidae in Gofas S, Moreno D, Salas C. Moluscos marinos de Andalucía. Vol. II. Servicio de Publicaciones e Intercambio Científico, Universidad de Málaga. 798 p.
    Cervera JL, Calado G, Gavaia C, et al. 2004. An annotated and updated checklist of the opisthobranchs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Spain and Portugal (including islands and archipelagos). Boletín Instituto Español de Oceanografía, 20 (1-4): 1-111. L.
    Cervera JL, García-Gómez JC, López-González PJ. 1992. A new aeolid (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) from the Atlantic coasts of the Southern Iberian peninsula. The Veliger 35(4): 330-337.
    Garcia FJ, Bertsch H. 2009. Diversity and distribution of the Gastropoda Opisthobranchia from the Atlantic Ocean: A global biogeographic approach. Scientia Marina. 73(1):153–160. https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2009.73n1153.
    García-Gómez JC. 2002. Paradigmas de una fauna insólita; Los moluscos opistobranquios del estrecho de Gibraltar (Serie Ciencias) 20: 397 pp. Instituto de Estudios Gibraltareños. Algeciras, Cádiz, Spain.
    Long SJ. 2006. Bibliography of Opisthobranchia 1554-2000. Bayside Books & Press, Tustin, CA, U.S.A. 672p.
    McDonald G. 2009. Bibliographia Nudibranchia. 2nd Online Edition, Annotated. 1072 pp  Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz. Available from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8115h0wz.
    Moro L, Ortea J, Bacallado JJ, et al. 1995. Nuevos Aeolidáceos (Gastropoda, Nudibranchia) para la fauna de Canarias. Revista de la Academia Canaria de Ciencias 7 (2, 3 and 4): 63-75.
    Ortea J, Caballer M, Moro L. 2001. Primeros datos sobre un complejo de especies alrededor de Cuthona willani Cervera, García & López, 1992 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) en la Macaronesia y Marruecos. Revista de la Academia Canaria de Ciencias XIII (4): 101-112.
    Ortea JA, Moro L, Bacallado JJ, et al. 2001. Catálogo actualizado de los Moluscos Opistobranquios de las Islas Canarias. Revista de la Academia Canaria de Ciencias. 12(3–4):105–136.
    WoRMS Editorial Board. 2023. World Register of Marine Species. WoRMS. Available from http://www.marinespecies.org.

    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. (2023) "Cuthona willani" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 19/01/2021. Accessed: 19/03/2024. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=31422)

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