Runcina ferruginea

Runcina ferruginea (Kress, 1977)

Runcina ferruginea by Enric Madrenas

Taxonomy

	Superdomain	Biota
	Kingdom	Animalia
	Phylum	Mollusca
	Class	Gastropoda
	Subclass	Heterobranchia
	Infraclass	Euthyneura
	Subterclass	Tectipleura
	Order	Runcinida
	Superfamily	Runcinoidea
	Family	Runcinidae
	Genus	Runcina
	Species	Runcina ferruginea Kress, 1977

	Classification according to Bouchet et al. (2017) Taxonomic source: World Register of Marine Species (AphiaID: 141412).

Description

This is a species whose specimens rarely exceed 4 mm. The body is narrow and elongated, limaciforme, with homogeneous reddish-brown coloration that honors the specific name. The center of the back can be somewhat darker due to the viscera. In some specimens the color can be blackish or orange, so it can be confused with small turbellarians (triclades). None of the specimens shows dark or light spots. The head region has light side lobes. The eyes are located near the front of the cephalic area. The foot is colored slightly lighter than the body, with long rounded tail. Beneath the rear of the notum there are 3 small semitransparent unipinnate gills.

Biology
No details are known of its biology. Like other species of Runcina it is believed to have herbivore eating habits.

Etymology

Runcina. From Latin “runcina”, carpenter’s plane.
Ferruginea. From Latin, feminine singular of “ferrūgineus”, meaning “rust colored”.

Distribution
The specific name clearly identifies the reddish coloration of this species. It has Atlantic and Mediterranean distribution. In the Iberian Peninsula it is known from the Cantabrian coast, Galicia, coast of Portugal, Gibraltar Strait, and south eastern coast. In Catalonia it is cited based on a single specimen collected in Es Caials (north Costa Brava).

Known georeferenced records of the species: Runcina ferruginea
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

References for the species: Runcina ferruginea

Cantabria: Ortea and Moro (1999). Galicia: Ortea and Urgorri (1981b), Fernández-Ovies (1983). Portugal: García-Gómez et al. (1991), Calado et al. (1999), Ortea and Moro (1999). Gibraltar: García-Gómez et al. (1989), Cervera, García-Gómez and García (1991), Sánchez-Moyano et al. (2000). Levante: Marín and Ros (1987). Catalunya: Ballesteros (datos no publicados) [Blanes].

Sources: Cervera et al., 2004, Ballesteros, 2007 & 2016, McDonald, 2006 and other sources.

Abundance

Western Mediterranean:
Eastern Mediterranean:
Atlantic Ocean:

Month

This chart displays the monthly observation probability for Runcina ferruginea based on our own records.

More pictures

Bibliography

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, Manuel, Enric Madrenas, Miquel Pontes (2021) "Runcina ferruginea" in OPK-Opistobranquis. Published: 29/08/2012. Accessed: 08/03/2021. Available at (https://opistobranquis.info/en/gUY0d)

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Runcina ferruginea