Home Guide to Opisthobranchs Nudibranchia Cladobranchia Proctonotoidea Janolus hyalinus

Janolus hyalinus

Janolus hyalinus (Alder & Hancock, 1854)

Janolus hyalinus @ L'Escala 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

Proctonotoidea  

 

Family

Janolidae  

 

Genus

Janolus  

 

Species

Janolus hyalinus  (Alder & Hancock, 1854)

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 140857).
Synonyms

  • Antiopa hyalina Alder & Hancock, 1854 (original)
  • Antiopella hyalina (Alder & Hancock, 1854)
  • Janolus flagellatus Eliot, 1906

Description
Medium sized body, it can grow up to 30mm in length, relatively wide and with a short tail. The color of the body is translucent yellowish white, with numerous reddish brown spots and some white spots. The central area of the dorsum is intensely pigmented in brown. The cerata are not smooth, but instead have their surface covered with small warts. The cerata are tappered and are arranged all around the animal (also in the front and back sides) forming transverse rows of 4 or 5 ceras, of which the interior ones are longer and reduce their length to the outside until they end up as mere tubercles; all of them are transparent, with some white and brown pigment on their surface and show, near their base, the dark brown digestive gland that runs up to halfway of the cerata. This gland is not seen in front nor rear cerata. Sometimes the cerata hide the animal’s back. The brown rhinophores have a truncated apex and numerous elongated, rib-like lamellae, obliquely oriented in relation to the rhinophore, with numerous “warts” that concentrate yellowish-white spots. The eyes, small, are located at the base of each rhinophore. The inter-rhinophoric caruncle is very apparent, it is elongated, relatively large and follows the chromatic pattern of the animal. The foot is relatively broad, with the anterior margin somewhat wavy and cleft in the middle part; lacks any propodial lobes or tentacles. The pedal sole is whitish and allows the internal organs to be seen through by transparency. The sides of the head have a “ribbon” that extends downwards, towards the margins of the foot, forming some kind of crest running along these margins. There is a small fold around the head that forms a small oral veil that extends on the sides to form two differentiated oral tentacles. The anus is in a dorsal posterior position.

Biology
It apparently feeds on bryozoans such as Bugula fastigiata (Cornet and M. Marchad, 1951), Scrupocellaria spp. (Picton, 1984) or Tricellaria inopinata (Faasse, M. com.pers.). The spawn consists of a wavy spiral arranged around its food and with relatively small eggs compared, e.g. with Janolus cristatus. It is an extremely cryptic species on the substrate so it has been rarely observed; in fact, when it is at rest it can be easily confused with an anemone. It is found from the low tide down to about 20 meters deep. In the Atlantic Ocean it is usually found under rocks with abundant bryozoans’ growth, whereas in the Mediterranean it seems to be more frequently found in the Posidonia oceanica meadows (Schmeckel, 1968; Haefelfinger, 1960). The specimens of J. hyalinus often readily detach their cerata if disturbed. These detached cerata continue to move for a while to distract the predator and allow the animal to escape, but they do so with a vertical movement, and not in a circle as in many aeolidaceans. This species is very similar to Proctonotus mucroniferus but they are distinguished basically by the presence of the inter-rhinophoric caruncle, typical in Janolus and absent in Proctonotus.

Etymology

  • Janolus is referred to the Greek god Janus, the one with two heads, god of beginnings and transitions (the month January is devoted to him), protector of homes (hence he’s represented with a key).
  • Hyalinus, word derived from Greek: ὑάλινος meaning “transparent”.

Distribution
It is present on the European coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, where it is common in the British Isles and the Netherlands, as well as in French Brittany. It is present in the Mediterranean, where it has been reported in France, Italy and Spain. The citations for Morocco come from the study of Templado (1984) in the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta. The Portuguese reports attributed to Calado (2003) actually correspond to Antiopella cristata, but Da Costa (2008) cites J.hyalinus in the Aveiro estuary (NW Portugal). Reports from New Zealand (Green, A. in Sea Slug Forum, 2001) are most likely a different species because the photos clearly show that the digestive gland reaches the tips of cerata, which is not the case for the European species. (Picton, 2001 at Sea Slug Forum).

Known georeferenced records of the species: Janolus hyalinus
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

Similar species
Proctonotus mucroniferus, of Atlantic distribution, does not have a sensory caruncle between the rhinophores, which are wrinkled and have no lamellae.

Abundance

    Western Mediterranean: ★☆☆☆☆
    Eastern Mediterranean: ☆☆☆☆☆
    Atlantic Ocean: ★★☆☆☆
Month

This chart displays the monthly observation probability for Janolus hyalinus based on our own records.

Videos

 

More pictures

Janolus hyalinus @ Costa Brava, Spain by Enric Madrenas
Janolus hyalinus @ Costa Brava, Spain by Enric Madrenas
Janolus hyalinus @ Costa Brava, Spain by Enric Madrenas
Janolus hyalinus @ Costa Brava, Spain by Enric Madrenas
Janolus hyalinus @ France by Gilles Cavignaux
Janolus hyalinus @ UK by Bernard Picton
Janolus hyalinus on bryozoan Tricellaria inopinata @ Zierikzee, Netherlands 25-09-2016
Janolus hyalinus on bryozoan Tricellaria inopinata Also juvenile Polyceras @ Zierikzee, Netherlands 20160925 by Marco Faasse
Janolus hyalinus @ Stavenisse, Netherlands 21-09-2015 by Stefan Verheyen
Janolus hyalinus @ Stavenisse, Netherlands 21-09-2015 by Stefan Verheyen
Janolus hyalinus @ Den Osse, Netherlands 16-12-2016
Janolus hyalinus mating @ Netherlands 30-10-2017 by Stefan Verheyen
Janolus hyalinus with spawn @ Netherlands 30-10-2017 by Stefan Verheyen
Janolus hyalinus @ Netherlands 6-09-2018 by Stefan Verheyen
Janolus hyalinus @ Netherlands 24-10-2019 by Stefan Verheyen
Janolus hyalinus @ Ponton De La Bordelaise, Bassin De Thau by Pascal Girard
Janolus hyalinus @ Etang de Thau, France March 2021
Janolus hyalinus @ Thau, France by Pascal Girard
Janolus hyalinus @ Costa Brava, Spain by Nani Díez
Janolus hyalinus @ France by Pascal Girard
Janolus hyalinus @ France by Pascal Girard
Janolus hyalinus spawn @ France by Pascal Girard
Janolus hyalinus @ Granada por Luis Sánchez Tocino
Janolus hyalinus @ Granada por Luis Sánchez Tocino
Janolus hyalinus @ Granada por Luis Sánchez Tocino

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Further reading

Cite this article as:

Pontes, Miquel, Manuel Ballesteros, Enric Madrenas (2012-2025) "Janolus hyalinus" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 16/05/2012. Accessed: 03/02/2025. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=556)