Smaragdinella calyculata
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| Smaragdinella calyculata | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Cephalaspidea |
| Family: | Haminoeidae |
| Genus: | Smaragdinella |
| Species: | S. calyculata |
| Binomial name | |
| Smaragdinella calyculata (Broderip & G. B. Sowerby I, 1829) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Smaragdinella calyculata, also called calyx bubble shell, is a small shelled slug common on rocky shores in the Indo-Pacific including Hawaii.[1][2]
The Smaragdinella calyculata are marine bubble-shelled slugs.[3] The shell of the slug is flat and solid, allowing it to attach onto rocks along the shore.[3] The shell is brownish green with shades of white.[3] The large headshield is wide in the front, narrowing slightly to form a rounded end.[3] The upper whorl is absent, except for a spoon-shaped projection from the columella.[3] On each side of the shell, a foot extends into a large lateral lobe, the parapodia, which fold over, partially enclosing the shell, which lies exposed on the back of the animal.[3] The chemosensory Hancock's organs are brown and form a thin wrinkled ridge in the areas between the foot and the headshield on each side of the head.[3] The penial opening is on the right anterior corner of the head.[3] A ciliated seminal groove runs back to the genital opening at the anterior end of the mantle cavity opening.[3] They are grazers, which are consumers that feed on organisms on the bottom levels of the food chain.[citation needed] They are herbivorous.[3]
Distribution
Smaragdinella calyculata is found in the Hawaiian Islands and the Indo-Pacific regions.[4] The Indo-Pacific region is a geopolitical area that spans two regions of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.[citation needed] Stretching from the west coast of the United States to the west coast of India, the Indo-Pacific is a 24-nation regional framework comprising the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia.[citation needed] Some examples of locations in the Indo-Pacific regions are China and Japan.[4]
