Runcina avellana Schmekel & Cappellato, 2001
Superdomain | Biota | |
Kingdom | Animalia | |
Phylum | Mollusca | |
Class | Gastropoda | |
Subclass | Heterobranchia | |
Infraclass | Euthyneura | |
Subterclass | Tectipleura | |
Order | Runcinida | |
Superfamily | Runcinoidea | |
Family | Runcinidae | |
Genus | Pseudoilbia | |
Species | Pseudoilbia avellana (Schmekel & Cappellato, 2001) | |
Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017) Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 744313). |
Synonyms
- Pseudoilbia avellana Schmekel & Cappellato, 2001
Description
This species is about 2 mm long and has a clearly elongated body. The anterior notum is somewhat narrower than the foot and does not have any cephalic lobes while the rear end has an oval contour. The foot has the same width as the notum except in the front, where it protrudes slightly at the sides of the head region, and the rear, where it forms a short, rounded tail. The coloration is uniform chocolate brown except the anterior and lateral regions of the head, some areas of the edge of notum, foot and tail, which are semitransparent and lighter coloured. The eyes are clearly visible and are located near the side edges of the head region, on the lighter coloured area. The edge of the foot has small brown spots along its length and the tail has a larger spot of the same color, shaped like an inverted “Y”. Schmekel & Capellato (2001) state that the specimens had a single rounded branchial leaf.
Biology
This little-known species are known to live in Posidonia oceanica rhizomes, like other species of the same genus, and it has also appeared among masses of algae like Codium vermilara (personal communication of E. Madrenas).
Etymology
- Runcina. The Latin word for carpenter’s plane, a tool used to smooth the surface of the wood.
- Avellana. This is related to the city of Avellino (Campania, Italy) which was called “Abella” during the Roman domination, and was known for their hazel plantations, whose fruit was called “nux avellana”, Abella nut. The fruit of the hazel was also known in ancient Castilian as “avellina”. Refers to the chocolate brown colour of this opisthobranch’s body, similar to hazelnut.
Distribution
To date, R. avellana was only known from the town of Banyuls-sur-mer on the French coast of the western Mediterranean, thanks to the collection of 3 live specimens of 1, 1.2 and 1.5 mm in length. The record of a specimen collected from algae in the Medes Islands (Catalonia, Costa Brava) means the second global cite for this species.
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References for the species: Runcina avellana
- We have not yet published references for Iberian coasts of: Runcina avellana.
Abundance
Western Mediterranean: | ![]() |
Eastern Mediterranean: | ![]() |
Atlantic Ocean: | ![]() |
More pictures







Bibliography
Further reading
Cite this article as:
Ballesteros, Manuel, Enric Madrenas, Miquel Pontes (2021) "Runcina avellana" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 19/09/2012. Accessed: 02/03/2021. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/Z1NAY)