Candiella striata (Haefelfinger, 1963)
WoRMS Taxonomic Information
Current classification
| Superdomain | Biota |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Mollusca |
| Class | Gastropoda |
| Subclass | Heterobranchia |
| Infraclass | Euthyneura |
| Subterclass | Ringipleura |
| Superorder | Nudipleura |
| Order | Nudibranchia |
| Suborder | Cladobranchia |
| Superfamily | Tritonioidea |
| Family | Tritoniidae |
| Subfamily | Tritoniinae |
| Genus | Candiella |
| Species | Candiella striata (Haefelfinger, 1963) |
In 2023 the genus name Duvaucelia changes again to Candiella as per De Vasconcelos et al. (2023) based on the fact that the original description of Duvaucelia gracilis does not refer to a specimen of Duvaucelia manicata (incorrectly synonymized in the past with Duvaucelia gracilis, type species of the genus Duvaucelia), so they propose the synonymy of Duvaucelia gracilis with Marionia blainvillea instead. Therefore, Duvaucelia is currently not a valid genus and the name Candiella is revived based on the type species Candiella plebeia.
Actual species composition for the genus Candiella is: Candiella cincta (Pruvot-Fol 1937) comb. nov., Ca. coralliumrubri (Doneddu et al. 2014) comb. nov., Ca. lineata comb. nov., Ca. manicata comb. nov., Ca. odhneri comb. nov., Ca. pallescens Eliot 1906 comb. nov., Ca. plebeia, Ca. striata comb. nov. and Ca. taliartensis Ortea and Moro, 2009 comb. nov.
Synonyms
- Tritonia striata Haefelfinger, 1963
- Duvaucelia striata (Haefelfinger, 1963)
Description
This is a member of Tritoniidae that can reach 15-20 mm in length. The body is high, semitransparent and with a quadrangular section. The viscera, coloured light brown, are visible by transparency from the head region to the third pair of dorsal papillae. The head has a cephalic veil with three pairs of white digitations, often of unequal size. Several black lines cross the back and side walls of the body. There is a continuous mediodorsal black line that forks into two at the front of the body, passes in front of the rhinophores and continues back along the side walls of the body, on the right side passing right above the genital papilla. On the side walls of the body there can also be 1-2 sometimes dashed black lines. The base of the dorsal arborizations there are curved black lines. The rhinophores are formed by several leaves with whitish lamellae, protected by a white sheath with a slightly wavy upper edge; the white apex of the rhinophores is club shaped. The eyes are located right in front of each rhinophore. There are up to 5 pairs of branched dorsal papillae with irregular lamellae. At the base of each dorsal papilla there are 1-2 small black spots.
Biology
This species is relatively common in dimly lit rocky walls with plenty of sponges, cnidarians and scyaphyllic algae. It has been cited feeding on the anthozoan Paralcyonium elegans.
Etymology
- Candiella. Classic authors did not usually explain the origin of the chosen names.
- Striata, from the word “stria” which means a series of repeated lines, with aesthetic appeal, found in nature, rock formations, good art, and pleasantly wrinkled skin.
Distribution
This species is found in the western Mediterranean and the Adriatic. Reports from the coasts of the Bay of Biscay should be verified. In the Iberian Mediterranean it has been found all along the coast as well as in the Balearic Islands. In Catalan waters it is frequent all along the Costa Brava.
Similar species
Candiella manicata, of similar size and appearance, is darker, with an irregular dark band and diffuse contours. Candiella sp. it is very similar, with 4 white longitudinal dorsal stripes, no black stripes.
Abundance
Relative abundance of Candiella striata among the different marine basins, based on our own records
This chart displays the monthly observation probability for Candiella striata based on our own records.
This chart displays the number of annual observations of Candiella striata over the last 50 years, based on our own records. The trend should be interpreted with caution, as it may be biased by the growing popularity of this animal group.
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Bibliography
Further reading
Cite this article as:
Ballesteros, M., Madrenas, E. & Pontes, M. (2025) "Candiella striata" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 16/05/2012. Accessed: 13/11/2026. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=548)