Palio nothus

Palio nothus (Johnston, 1838)

• Polycera nothus (Johnston, 1838)
• Polycera ocellata Alder & Hancock, 1842 
• Triopa nothus Johnston, 1838 (original)

Description
Length up to 28 mm. The body is tall and with the animal in extension, it is somewhat narrower in the middle area between the rhinophores and the gill. Very dark brown body, sometimes in olive tones, except whitish spots throughout the body that correspond to conical tubercles of different sizes. The margins of the dorsum are very well marked around the whole animal and are also whitish and tuberculate. The rhinophores and gills are brown. On both sides of the gill there are white rounded papillae. Rhinophors with lighter coloured leaves. The foot is whitish.

Biology
It lives from the intertidal zone down to 20-30 m in rocky areas with the bryozoans it feeds on. The spawn is a spirally wound ribbon of a turn and a half with white eggs.

Etymology

• Nothus. From Latin “nothus”, cross-bred, mixed, mongrel, false, spurious, illegitimate (known father).

Distribution
Basically an Atlantic species, Palio nothus has very few citations in the Mediterranean. The first cite for the Mediterranean corresponds to (Alen Petani, 2011) on the island of Vir, Croatia. Enric Madrenas’ finding in the Cap de Creus in 2015 we believe is the first report for the Western Mediterranean.

Known georeferenced records of the species: Palio nothus

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

Palio nothus @ Galicia

Palio nothus – Photograph ©Bernard Picton

Palio nothus @ Costa Brava, Spain in 10m 2-05-2015

Palio nothus @ Netherlands 25-04-2018 by Stefan Verheyen

Palio nothus @ Netherlands 25-04-2018 by Stefan Verheyen

Palio nothus @ Netherlands 24-04-2018 by Stefan Verheyen

Palio nothus by Nani Díez

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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