Bosellia mimetica
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bosellia mimetica | |
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| Bosellia mimetica on Halimeda tuna. Locality: Mediterranean Sea. The length of the slug is about 1 cm. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Family: | Plakobranchidae |
| Genus: | Bosellia |
| Species: | B. mimetica |
| Binomial name | |
| Bosellia mimetica Trinchese, 1890 | |
Bosellia mimetica is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Plakobranchidae.[1] It is a very small sea slug growing to less than 1 centimetre (0.4 in) in length. It has a rounded, flattened body and is a mottled green, a colour that mimics that of the algae Halimeda tuna and Flabellia petiolata on which it lives and feeds.[2] Its range includes the Mediterranean Sea, the Iberian peninsula, the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic coast of South America. The type locality is the island of Capri, in Italy.[3]
Bosellia mimetica is a small, flattened sea slug that seldom exceeds 8 millimetres (0.3 in) in length. When at rest, its body is an oval shape but when moving it extends its body, resembling a grain of rice. There are transverse folds which separate the head, body and foot. The body has a flap on either side but there are no true parapodia. The two rhinophores are longitudinally-folded, smooth and are slightly paler in colour than the body colour. The general colour is a shade of green which resembles the colour of the alga on which it feeds. Individuals feeding on the underside of the fronds tend to be paler than those on the upper surface. There are often linear white markings that resemble the white worm tubes often present on the fronds.[4][5] It can be distinguished from the rather similar but slightly larger Bosellia cohellia by the shorter rhinophores which lack white bands.[6]
Distribution
Bosellia mimetica is found in shallow water in the Mediterranean Sea, on the Atlantic coast of Spain, in the Caribbean Sea and south to Brazil.[2] It has been found at depths ranging from 2 to 100 metres (7 to 328 ft).[5]
