{"id":48791,"date":"2026-10-15T15:46:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T13:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opistobranquis.info\/?page_id=48791"},"modified":"2026-10-15T16:12:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T14:12:29","slug":"doto-acuta","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/opistobranquis.info\/en\/guia\/nudibranchia\/cladobranchia\/dendronotoidea\/doto-acuta\/","title":{"rendered":"Doto acuta"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Doto acuta<\/em> Schmekel & Kress, 1977<\/h3>\n

\"Doto<\/div>
Doto acuta @ Naples (Italy) by Schmekel & Kress (1977)<\/em> by OPK<\/center><\/span>

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WoRMS Taxonomic Information<\/h3>
Current accepted name: Doto acuta<\/em> Schmekel & Kress, 1977<\/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>Cladobranchia<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Superfamily<\/th>Dendronotoidea<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Family<\/th>Dotidae<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Genus<\/th>Doto<\/em><\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Species<\/th>Doto acuta<\/em> Schmekel & Kress, 1977<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table>

Classification provided by the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). [139625<\/a>]<\/p><\/div>Taxonomic note:<\/strong> Doto acuta<\/em> was originally described by Schmekel and Kress (1977) in their revision of the genus Doto<\/em> from the Mediterranean Sea and the English Channel. Based on Mediterranean material, they assigned the species to the genus Doto<\/em> Oken, 1815. The systematics of Dotidae has been the subject of morphological and molecular revisions because of the similarities between species and the existence of cryptic diversity. Shipman and Gosliner (2015) reviewed the systematics of the genus using morphological characters and molecular data, while V\u00e1zquez-Alcaide et al. (2025) published a subsequent systematic revision of Doto<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Description
\n<\/strong>Doto acuta<\/em> is a small nudibranch, with a maximum observed length of approximately 7 mm; the holotype measured 3.5 mm. The body is elongated and translucent, with a cadmium-yellow coloration and small black spots. The rhinophores are smooth and bear a black pigmented band just below the apex, as well as another, more diffuse band lower down. The cerata are bulbous and bear tubercles arranged in rings; the tips of these tubercles have black spots. A black pigmented line has also been described on the inner surface of the base of the cerata.<\/p>\n

Biology
\n<\/strong>The species has been found associated with the hydroid Obelia geniculata<\/em>, on which the holotype was collected in the original material from the vicinity of Capo Posillipo, Naples, at a depth of approximately 10 m. The hydroid was growing on the seagrass Posidonia oceanica<\/em>. In the genus Doto<\/em>, feeding involves piercing the hydroid perisarc and sucking out the contents of the gastrovascular cavity, without directly consuming the polyps. Reproduction in Doto<\/em> involves the deposition of egg masses on the substrate or in association with the hydroid colonies on which the animals feed.<\/p>\n

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