Home Guide to Opisthobranchs Nudibranchia Doridina Doridoidei Onchidoridoidea Pelagella castanea

Pelagella castanea

Pelagella castanea (Alder & Hancock, 1845)

Pelagella castanea @ Netherlands 22-02-2018 by Stefan Verheyen

Taxonomy
 

Superdomain

Biota  

 

Kingdom

Animalia  

 

Phylum

Mollusca  

 

Class

Gastropoda  

 

Subclass

Heterobranchia  

 

Infraclass

Euthyneura  

 

Subterclass

Ringipleura  

 

Superorder

Nudipleura  

 

Order

Nudibranchia  

 

Suborder

Doridina  

 

Infraorder

Doridoidei  

 

Superfamily

Onchidoridoidea  

 

Family

Goniodorididae  

 

Genus

Pelagella  

 

Species

Pelagella castanea  (Alder & Hancock, 1845)

 
 Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017)
Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 1663340).
Synonyms

  • Doris pareti Vérany, 1846
  • Goniodoris brunnea, Macnae, 1958
  • Goniodoris castanea (Alder & Hancock, 1845)

Description
The general coloration of the animal is reddish brown. The size of specimens can reach about 40 mm in length, but most of the animals measure 15 to 20 mm. The body is high with a flattened dorsum separated from the hiponotum by a margin, somewhat darker than the rest of the body. The cephalic region is has a bilobed veil ending with two tentacles that have a dorsal crest and small conical tubercles. The dorsum of the animal, the head, the body walls and the end of the feet also have these conical tubercles, somewhat lighter coloured than the rest of the body. In the center of the dorsum and tail, the alignment of the tubercles form characteristic longitudinal ridges. The rhinophores are high and whitish in color, have a dozen lamellae mottled with brown scores with a small cylindrical rhinophoric apex. The eyes are located below the base of the rhinophores, in the side wall of the head. There are 8 dark brown tripinnate gill leaves arranged in a horseshoe, one of them facing forward and the other facing sideways or backwards. The anal papilla is located in the center of the gill leaves.

Biology
This species is mainly found in shallow water, under stones that have colonial tunicates like Botrylloides leachi and Botryllus schlosseri, or the individual ascidian Ascidia mentula, from which it feeds.

Etymology

  • Doris, marine nymph of the Greek mythology.
  • Pelagella, classic authors usually did not explain the inspiration of the names they assigned. Could be related to Greek πέλαγος (pélagos, “sea”). Suffix “-ella” is a diminutive.
  • Castanea, chestnut coloured.

Distribution
It is distributed across all the Atlantic and Mediterranean European coasts. In the Iberian Peninsula it has been recorded in all the coasts and the Balearic and Canary islands. In the Catalan coast it has been observed in very few locations, most probably because it is very difficult to distinguish due to its camouflage on the substrate.

Known georeferenced records of the species: Pelagella castanea
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 Pelagella castanea based on our own records.

More pictures

Pelagella castanea by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea by Manuel Ballesteros
Pelagella castanea by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea (Portugal) by Joao Pedro Silva
Radula de Pelagella castanea by Luis Sánchez-Tocino
Pelagella castanea @ Laguna Lucrino, Pozzuoli, Napoli
Pelagella castanea @ Laguna Lucrino, Pozzuoli, Napoli
Pelagella castanea @ Sa Tuna 6-11-2015 by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea @ Sa Tuna 6-11-2015 by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea @ Sa Tuna 6-11-2015 by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea @ Sa Tuna 6-11-2015 by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea @ Sa Tuna 6-11-2015 by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea @ Sa Tuna 6-11-2015 by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea @ Sa Tuna 6/12/2015 by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea by José Carlos García Gómez
Pelagella castanea by José Carlos García Gómez
Pelagella castanea by José Carlos García Gómez
Pelagella castanea @ Anna Jacobapolder, Netherlands 26-07-2016 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea @ Den Osse, Netherlands 16-12-2016 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea @ Grevelingen, Netherlands 11-05-2017 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea @ Netherlands 2-05-2017 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea @ Netherlands 9-08-2017 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea @ Netherlands 9-08-2017 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea with spawn @ Netherlands 19-07-2017 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea @ Netherlands 21-06-2017 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea @ Netherlands 25-10-2017 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea @ Netherlands 25-10-2017 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea with spawn @ Netherlands 12-08-2017 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea @ Netherlands 12-02-2018 by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea (different colors) @ Netherlands by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea feeding on Botrylloides sp. @ Netherlands by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea feeding on Botrylloides sp. @ Netherlands by Stefan Verheyen
Pelagella castanea @ L’Escala by Enric Madrenas
Pelagella castanea @ Granada por Luis Sánchez Tocino


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Further reading

Cite this article as:

Ballesteros, M., Madrenas, E. & Pontes, M. (2023) "Pelagella castanea" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 14/06/2012. Accessed: 03/12/2023. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/?p=1742)

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