{"id":22612,"date":"2016-10-27T00:00:10","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T22:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opistobranquis.info\/?page_id=22612"},"modified":"2025-07-25T10:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T08:56:08","slug":"learchis-poica","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/opistobranquis.info\/en\/guia\/nudibranchia\/aeolidioidea\/facelinidae\/learchis-poica\/","title":{"rendered":"Learchis poica"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Learchis poica<\/em> \u00a0Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1960<\/h3>\n

\"Learchis<\/div>
Learchis poica @ Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, USA<\/em> by Sandra Edwards<\/center><\/span>

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WoRMS Taxonomic Information<\/h3>
Current accepted name: Learchis poica<\/em> Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1960<\/strong><\/div>

Current classification<\/h4>
Superdomain<\/th>Biota<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Kingdom<\/th>Animalia<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Phylum<\/th>Mollusca<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Class<\/th>Gastropoda<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Subclass<\/th>Heterobranchia<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Infraclass<\/th>Euthyneura<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Subterclass<\/th>Ringipleura<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Superorder<\/th>Nudipleura<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Order<\/th>Nudibranchia<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Suborder<\/th>Aeolidina<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Superfamily<\/th>Aeolidioidea<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Family<\/th>Facelinidae<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Genus<\/th>Learchis<\/em><\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Species<\/th>Learchis poica<\/em> Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1960<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table>

Classification provided by the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). [420632<\/a>]<\/p><\/div>Description
\n<\/strong>Small nudibranch up to 14mm in length. Quite variable in color, the typical pattern is the translucent body with white patching on the head and behind the rhinophores that may form a broad continuous median dorsal band from the front of the head to the tip of the tail. There can also be an opaque white irregular band along each side of the body, below the cerata. It has orange markings on the head, often consisting of an orange line from the base of the oral tentacles to the base of the rhinophores. There can also be an orange patch on each side of the head (cheek patch) that could be replaced by an orange line from the base of the rhinophores to the foot, or from below the rhinophores forward to the front of the head below the oral tentacles. The rhinophores are often described as annulate, perfoliate or lamellate, but they consistently have an irregular arrangement of 6-10 rings or annulations, some of which are irregular or incomplete (Edmunds, 1964). The oral tentacles are smooth. The cerata stand in about 8 groups laid in arches, the hindmost of which are indistinctly separated; they are translucent with a few scattered white patches (covering most of the cerata in certain specimens), a subterminal white band (there\u00a0could be an orange band in certain specimens) and a white cnidosac on the tip. The digestive gland can be seen, by transparency, inside the cerata and it could be colored from light brown to dark brown or even black. The eyes are black. The foot is narrower than the body, specially in the anterior side, it has a bilabiate anterior border with tappered propodial tentacles normally facing backwards as the animal moves. The tail is short.<\/p>\n

Biology
\n<\/strong>The animals appear to move little. Sometimes it forms clusters on the hydroids they feed on (Halocordyle disticha<\/em>\u00a0in the Canary Islands). It has the ability to retain undischarged nematocysts from their preys and store them in the cnidosacs at the tips of cerata. The spawn is a convoluted\u00a0spiral of white eggs laid on the hydroids they feed on.<\/p>\n

Etymology<\/strong><\/p>\n