Doto maculata
Species of gastropod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Doto maculata is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Dotidae.
| Doto maculata | |
|---|---|
| |
| The nudibranch Doto maculata, Strangford Lough, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, UK. 3mm. in length. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Nudibranchia |
| Suborder: | Dendronotacea |
| Family: | Dotidae |
| Genus: | Doto |
| Species: | D. maculata |
| Binomial name | |
| Doto maculata | |
Distribution
This species was first described from Devon, United Kingdom. It was re-described and separated from synonymy with Doto coronata by Lemche in 1976.[2]
Description
This nudibranch is translucent white with dark red spots on the ceratal tubercles. It is one of the smaller representatives of the Doto coronata group of species. One of its most distinctive features is the length of the tubercles on the cerata.[3]
Ecology
Doto maculata feeds on the hydroid Halopteris catharina, family Halopterididae.