Home Guide to Opisthobranchs Nudibranchia Doridina Doridoidei Doridoidea Taringa faba

Taringa faba

Taringa faba Ballesteros, Llera & Ortea, 1985

Taringa faba by Manuel Ballesteros

Taxonomy
 

Superdomain

Biota  

 

Kingdom

Animalia  

 

Phylum

Mollusca  

 

Class

Gastropoda  

 

Subclass

Heterobranchia  

 

Infraclass

Euthyneura  

 

Subterclass

Ringipleura  

 

Superorder

Nudipleura  

 

Order

Nudibranchia  

 

Suborder

Doridina  

 

Infraorder

Doridoidei  

 

Superfamily

Doridoidea  

 

Family

Discodorididae  

 

Genus

Taringa  

 

Species

Taringa faba  Ballesteros, Llera & Ortea, 1985

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 140800).
Description
Specimens of this species can reach 37 mm in length. The body is rather flattened, with different shades of brown, deppending on the specimens, with irregularly laid dark spots, and a few scattered white spots. The different shades of the specimens are due to the different density of brown scores that provide the body color. The mantle is very wide and the whole surface is covered with caryophyllic tubercles arranged very tightly; these are cylindrical and smaller in the edges of the mantle, some with a sharp tip. Bigger caryophyllic tubercles are located in the center of the mantle, and are somewhat stalked at the base. They all have a crown of numerous spicules slightly protruding from its upper end. The rhinophores are yellowish and have fine brown pigment, both in the lamellae and the alaminar base. The apex of the rhinophores is club shaped. The rhinophoric sheath is rather high and its upper edge has 8-10 lobulations also with caryophyllic tubercles. The gill consists of 6 tripinnate yellowish leaves decorated with fine brown scores and a whitish spine. The gill leaves, when extended, stand upright and somewhat tightened, they are fully retractable. The anal papilla, in the center of the gill leaves, is of the same color and has a cylindrical shape, with 9-10 rounded lobes on the upper edge. The branchial sheath has 18 to 20 lobes on its upper edge, also provided with caryophyllic tubercles. The foot is relatively narrow compared to the mantle, it is coloured yellow with small brown spots and its anterior border is furrowed and split. The underside of the mantle (hiponotum) and flanks of the foot have larger brown spots and in the hiponotum there are numerous spicules that can be seen by transparency. The mouth has a pair of short yellow palps with some brown spots that can also appear around the mouth hole. When the animal moves, the rear part of the foot may protrude slightly behind the mantle.

Anatomical Note: Taringa species of European waters (T. armata, T. faba, T. millegrana, T. Pinoi and T. oleica) are morphologically very similar and only an study of its internal anatomy, including the radula, allows to distinguish them.

Biology
Very few details of the biology of this species are known due to the lack of records from its presence. The feeding habits are unknown. It is located under stones with sponges from very shallow depths (Ballesteros et al. 1984). Animals move very slowly and acquire a nearly circular shape when at rest. Spawns have been observed in the month of June, in the form of a white spirally wound and somewhat undulated ribbon, of two and a half turns, about 20 mm diameter and 4 mm ribbon width. The eggs are white, are placed very tightly and in several layers, each one having a diameter of about 100 microns.

Etymology

  • faba = Refers to the bean shape (from Latin faba-ae= bean) of the copulatory bag of the genital tract.

Distribution
This species is only known from the Catalan coast, where it has been cited in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Llafranc, Cala Sant Francesc (Blanes), Sitges and Cubelles (type locality for the species).

Known georeferenced records of the species: Taringa faba
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 Taringa faba based on our own records.

More pictures

Taringa faba by Manuel Ballesteros
Taringa faba by Manuel Ballesteros
Taringa faba by Manuel Ballesteros
Taringa faba by Manuel Ballesteros
Taringa faba by Manuel Ballesteros

Bibliography

    Ballesteros M. 1984. Adiciones a la fauna de opistobranquios de Cubellas (Tarragona). Miscelánea Zoológica 8: 41-49.
    Ballesteros M. 1991. Els Opistobranquis. pp. 416-427. In: Historia Natural dels Països Catalans,  Invertebrats no artròpodes. Enciclopèdia Catalana. Barcelona.
    Ballesteros M. 2007. Lista actualizada de los opistobranquios (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) de las costas catalanas. Spira. 2(3):163–188.
    Ballesteros M, Ortea JA. 1982. Descripcion de una nueva especie de Taringa Marcus, 1955 (Mollusca: Nudibranchiata) del Mediterraneo Iberico. IV Congreso Nacional de Malacologia, Sociedad Espana de Malacologia, Resumenes de las communicaciones, Gijon 11-13 September 1982; pp 6-7.
    Ballesteros M, Llera EM, Ortea J. 1985. Revision de los Doridacea (Mollusca: Opistobranchia) del Atlantico nordeste atribuibles al complejo maculosa-fragilis. Bollettino Malacologico, 20 (9-12): 227-257.
    Ballesteros M, Madrenas E, Pontes M. 2016. Actualización del catálogo de los moluscos opistobranquios (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) de las costas catalanas. Spira. 6:1–28.
    Ballesteros M, Pontes M, Madrenas E. 2019. Els nudibranquis del mar català. Figueres: Brau Edicions. 192 p.
    Ballesteros M, Madrenas E, Pontes M. 2025. OPK - Opistobranquis. Available from https://opistobranquis.info/.
    Cattaneo-Vietti R, Barletta G. 1984. Elenco preliminare dei molluschi opistobranchi viventi nel Mediterraneo (Sacoglossa, Pleurobranchomorpha, Acochlidiacea, Aplysiomorpha, Nudibranchia). Bollettino Malacologico (Pubblicazione Mensile Edita dalla Societa Italiana di Malacologia) 20(9-12):195-218.
    Cattaneo-Vietti R, Thompson TE. 1989. Mediterranean opisthobranch molluscs: a zoogeographic approach. Bollettino Malacologico (Pubblicazione Mensile Edita dalla Societa Italiana di Malacologia) 25(5-8):183-204.
    Cattaneo-Vietti R, Chemello R, Giannuzzi-Savelli R. 1990. Atlas of Mediterranean Nudibranchs. Rome, Italy: La Conchiglia. 264 p.
    Cervera JL, Templado J, García-Gómez JC, et al. 1988. Catálogo actualizado y comentado de los Opistobranquios (Mollusca, Gastropoda) de la Península Ibérica, Baleares y Canarias, con algunas referencias a Ceuta y la isla de Alborán. Iberus, supl. 1: 1-84.
    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.
    Domènech A, Avila C, Ballesteros M. 2002. Spatial and Temporal variability of the Opisthobranch molluscs of Port Lligat Bay (Catalonia, NE Spain). Journ. Moll. Stud., 68:29-37.
    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, Cervera JL, García-Martín SF. 1993. A new species of dorid nudibranch of the genus Taringa Marcus, 1955 (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia) from the southern Iberian Peninsula, with remarks on world species of the genus. Journal of Natural History. 27(3):565–574. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222939300770321.
    Giribet G, Peñas A. 1997. Fauna malacológica del litoral del Garraf (NE de la Península Ibérica). Iberus 15 (1): 41-93.
    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.
    Ortea J, Martínez E. 1992. Descripción de una nueva especie de Taringa de las islas Canarias. Revista de la Academia Canaria de Ciencias 4 (3-4): 95-101.
    Sabelli B, Gianuzzi-Savelli R, Bedulli D. 1990. Catalogo annotato dei Molluschi marini del Mediterraneo. Libreria Naturalistica Bolognese. Bologna, Italy: 348 pp.
    Templado J, Villanueva R. 2010. Checklist of Phylum Mollusca. pp. 148-198 In Coll, M., et al., 2010. The biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: estimates, patterns, and threats. PLoS ONE 5(8):36pp.
    Trainito E, Doneddu M. 2014. Nudibranchi del Mediterraneo. 2nd. Il Castello. 192 p.
    WoRMS Editorial Board. 2025. 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. (2012-2025) "Taringa faba" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 29/08/2012. Accessed: 03/02/2025. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=2229)