Doris sticta

Doris sticta (Iredale & O’Donoghue, 1923)

• Archidoris maculata (Garstang, 1896)
• Archidoris maculata lutea Vayssière, 1919
• Doridigitata sticta Iredale & O’Donoghue, 1923 (original)
• Doris eubalia Fischer P., 1872 
• Doris maculata Garstang, 1896
• Glossodoris dorbignii Gray, 1850

Description
This nudibranch can reach a size of more than 40 mm long. Its overall color is yellow or cream. Very large rounded tubercles outstand on the back, there are many smaller tubercles radiating raised ridges connecting them all, giving the appearance of a grid on the dorsum. The color of tubercles is usually dark brown or slightly purple. The size of the tubercles decreases from the center to the edges of the dorsum. The rhinophores are yellowish, the base is semi-transparent and there are twenty thin lamellae on its upper portion, while the terminal mucron is underdeveloped. The rhinophoric sheath has two thick tubercles like the ones on the dorsum, one on the outer side and another on the inner side. Gill is composed by 5-6 tripinnate yellow leaves coloured in a slightly lighter shade than the body. The foot is also yellow and the mouth has a pair of short oral palps.

Biology
Very little is known about this rare species of nudibranch. In the British coast it has been observed in the subtidal rocky bottoms with sponges and cnidarians like Corynactis viridis. In the Catalan coast it has appeared deeper in commercial trawl fishering grounds like those found in front of the town of Blanes (Domenech et al. 2006) and in front of Barcelona (Ballesteros, 1985). It is assumed that it feeds on sponges like Ciocalypta penicillus. The spawn is a spiral wound ribbon of two turns with white or slightly yellowish eggs.

Etymology

• Doris. In Greek mythology Doris was a sea nymph, one of the many children of Oceanus and Tethys, wife of Nereus and mother of the Nereids.
• Sticta. Latinization of Greek “stiktē”, feminine of “stiktos”, tattooed, spotted.

Distribution
Very little is known about its presence but literature indicates that is distributed from the north of the British Isles to the Mediterranean Sea, also cited in the Atlantic coast of Morocco and Madeira. In the Iberian Peninsula it has been recorded in the Bay of Biscay, in Portugal, in the Strait of Gibraltar and Catalonia (in the trawling grounds in front of Blanes, and Barcelona).

Known georeferenced records of the species: Doris sticta

Sources:
OBIS GROC 2010-2011 Enric Madrenas João Pedro Silva Bernard Picton GBIF	OPK VIMAR Manuel Ballesteros M@re Nostrum Altres fonts Marine Regions

More pictures

Doris sticta Thorn Rock, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales. 6 Aug 2009. – Photograph ©Bernard Picton

Doris sticta Laying spawn on the bryozoan Alcyonidium diaphanum. Thorn Rock, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales. 6 Aug 2009. – Photograph ©Bernard Picton

Doris sticta Sark, Channel Isles. 24 June 2010. – Photograph ©Bernard Picton

Doris sticta by José Carlos García Gómez

Doris sticta @ Isola di Capraia, Arch. Tremiti, Italy 4-09-2010 by Rino Lubatti (CC BY NC)

Doris sticta @ Isola di Capraia, Arch. Tremiti, Italy 4-09-2010 by Rino Lubatti (CC BY NC)

Doris sticta @ Isola di Capraia, Arch. Tremiti, Italy 4-09-2010 by Rino Lubatti (CC BY NC)

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

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