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Phyllodesmium Horridum
''Phyllodesmium horridum'', the coral nudibranch, is a species of sea slug, specifically an aeolid nudibranch. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae. Distribution This species is found around the South African coast from False Bay to Sodwana Bay, intertidally to at least 30 m.Gosliner T. M. (1987). ''Nudibranchs of Southern Africa'' It has been erroneously reported from Australia and Japan due to confusion with '' Phyllodesmium serratum''. Description Around the South African coast, the coral nudibranch is typically between 30 and 40 mmBranch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. ''Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa'' in total length. It is a slender pale-bodied aeolid with long paired pinkish cerata. The cerata have a bluish-white stripe running down their length, as does the body. The rhinophores are smooth. This species contains no zooxanthellae. Ecology ''Phyllodesmium horridum'' feeds on sea fans ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motility, able to move, can Sexual reproduction, reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in which their body consists of a hollow sphere of Cell (biology), cells, the blastula, during Embryogenesis, embryonic development. Over 1.5 million Extant taxon, living animal species have been Species description, described—of which around 1 million are Insecta, insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million animal species in total. Animals range in length from to . They have Ecology, complex interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs. The scientific study of animals is known as zoology. Most living animal species are in Bilateria, a clade whose members have a Symmetry in biology#Bilate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Slug
Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary time have either completely lost their shells, or have seemingly lost their shells due to having a greatly reduced or internal shell. The name "sea slug" is most often applied to nudibranchs, as well as to a paraphyletic set of other marine gastropods without obvious shells. Sea slugs have an enormous variation in body shape, color, and size. Most are partially translucent. The often bright colors of reef-dwelling species implies that these animals are under constant threat of predators, but the color can serve as a warning to other animals of the sea slug's toxic stinging cells (nematocysts) or offensive taste. Like all gastropods, they have small, razor-sharp teeth, called radulas. Most sea slugs have a pair of rhinophores—sensory te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zooxanthellae
Zooxanthellae is a colloquial term for single-celled dinoflagellates that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including demosponges, corals, jellyfish, and nudibranchs. Most known zooxanthellae are in the genus ''Symbiodinium'', but some are known from the genus '' Amphidinium'', and other taxa, as yet unidentified, may have similar endosymbiont affinities. The true ''Zooxanthella'' K.brandt is a mutualist of the radiolarian ''Collozoum inerme'' (Joh.Müll., 1856) and systematically placed in Peridiniales. Another group of unicellular eukaryotes that partake in similar endosymbiotic relationships in both marine and freshwater habitats are green algae zoochlorellae. Zooxanthellae are photosynthetic organisms, which contain chlorophyll a and chlorophyll c, as well as the dinoflagellate pigments peridinin and diadinoxanthin. These provide the yellowish and brownish colours typical of many of the host species. During the day, they provide their host ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhinophores
A rhinophore is one of a pair of chemosensory club-shaped, rod-shaped or ear-like structures which are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy in sea slugs, marine gastropod opisthobranch mollusks such as the nudibranchs, sea hares (Aplysiomorpha), and sap-sucking sea slugs (Sacoglossa). Etymology The name relates to the rhinophore's function as an organ of "smell". ''Rhino-'' means nose from Ancient Greek ῥίς ''rhis'' and from its genitive ῥινός ''rhinos''. "Phore" means "to bear" from New Latin ''-phorus'' and from Greek -phoros (φορος) "bearing", a derivative of ''phérein'' (φέρειν). Function Rhinophores are scent or taste receptors, also known as chemosensory organs situated on the dorsal surface of the head. They are primarily used for distance chemoreception and rheoreception (response to water current). The "scents" detected by rhinophores are chemicals dissolved in the sea water. The fine structure and hairs of the rhinophore ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cerata
:''The tortrix moth genus ''Cerata'' is considered a junior synonym of ''Cydia. Cerata, singular ceras, are anatomical structures found externally in nudibranch sea slugs, especially in aeolid nudibranchs, marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the clade Aeolidida. The word ceras comes from the Greek word "κέρας", meaning "horn", a reference to the shape of these structures. Cerata are dorsal and lateral outgrowths on the upper surfaces of the body of these nudibranchs. Function Cerata greatly extend the surface area of nudibranchs and aid in respiration, the process of gas exchange for metabolic use. Cerata are also used, in some cases, for attack and defense. In many aeolid nudibranchs, the digestive system extends into the cerata. These nudibranchs eat stinging celled animals (Cnidarians) such as anemones, hydroids and sea fans or Portuguese men o' war. The stinging cells or nematocysts are passed unharmed through the digestive system to cnidosacs at the tips of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phyllodesmium Serratum
''Phyllodesmium serratum'' is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.Bouchet, P. (2010). ''Phyllodesmium serratum'' (Baba, 1949). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=225502 on 2011-01-08 Distribution The distribution of ''Phyllodesmium serratum'' includes Australia and Japan.Rudman, W.B., 1999 (January 26''Phyllodesmium serratum'' (Baba, 1949). n/nowiki> Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. It has been erroneously synonymised with ''Phyllodesmium horridum'' by some authors but does not occur in Africa. Description The length of the slug is usually 10–25 mm, but its length can reach up to 40 mm. Baba K. (1991). "日本産サガミミノウミウシの解剖学的研究 The anatomy of ''Phyllodesmium serratum'' (Baba, 1949) from Japan (Nudibranchia: Facelinidae)". ''Venus'' 50(2): 101-108abstract This species contains no zooxan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sodwana Bay
Sodwana Bay is a bay in South Africa on the KwaZulu Natal north coast, between St. Lucia and Lake Sibhayi. It is in the Sodwana Bay National Park, and the Maputaland Marine Reserve, and is a popular recreational diving destination. The term is commonly used to refer to both the marine reserve and the terrestrial park, as well as the geographical bay. Sodwana Bay National Park is a narrow strip of forested sand dunes located along the east coast. Proclaimed a national park in the 1950s, it is frequented by anglers and divers. Sodwana is situated in the Maputaland Marine Protected Area and is the only recreational scuba diving area along the Greater St Lucia Wetlands Park (now renamed to iSimangaliso) coastline. Classified as one of the top dive sites in the world, the park is visited by some 35 000 scuba divers per year. The bay is near the southern end of the tropical western Indo-Pacific marine ecoregion, and reef-building corals are present. The reef complex is the habitat of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
False Bay
False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcated by Cape Point to the west and Cape Hangklip to the east. The north side of the bay is the low-lying Cape Flats, and the east side is the foot of the Hottentots Holland Mountains to Cape Hangklip which is at nearly the same latitude as Cape Point. In plan the bay is approximately square, being roughly the same extent from north to south as east to west, with the southern side open to the ocean. The seabed slopes gradually down from north to south, and is mostly fairly flat unconsolidated sediments. Much of the bay is off the coast of the City of Cape Town, and it includes part of the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area and the whole of the Helderberg Marine Protected Area. The name "False Bay" was applied at least three hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Marine Heterobranch Gastropods Of South Africa
The list of marine heterobranch gastropods of South Africa is a list of saltwater mollusc species that form a part of the molluscan fauna of South Africa. This list does not include the land or freshwater molluscs. This is a sub-list of the list of marine gastropods of South Africa, which is in turn a sub-list of the list of marine molluscs of South Africa. Heterobranchia Architectonicidae *Variegated sundial shell '' Heliacus variegatus'' (Gmelin, 1791) (Eastern Cape to Mozambique)Branch, G.M. Griffiths, C.L. Branch, M.L. Beckley, L.E. ''Two Oceans: A guide to the marine life of southern Africa.'' 5th impression, David Philip, Cape Town, 2000. Siphonariidae - False limpets *'' Siphonaria annaea'' Tomlin, 1944 (Durban northwards) *Cape False limpet '' Siphonaria capensis'' Quoy and Gaimard (Namibia to northern KwaZulu-Natal) * '' Siphonaria compressa'' Allanson, 1958 *'' Siphonaria concinna'' Sowerby, 1824 (Cape Point to Zululand) *''Siphonaria nigerrima'' Smith, 1903 (Zul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family ( la, familia, plural ') is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". What belongs to a family—or if a described family should be recognized at all—are proposed and determined by practicing taxonomists. There are no hard rules for describing or recognizing a family, but in plants, they can be characterized on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species. Taxonomists often take different positions about descriptions, and there may be no broad consensus across the scientific community for some time. The publishing of new data and opini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mollusc
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estimated between 60,000 and 100,000 additional species. The proportion of undescribed species is very high. Many taxa remain poorly studied. Molluscs are the largest marine phylum, comprising about 23% of all the named marine organisms. Numerous molluscs also live in freshwater and terrestrial habitats. They are highly diverse, not just in size and anatomical structure, but also in behaviour and habitat. The phylum is typically divided into 7 or 8 taxonomic classes, of which two are entirely extinct. Cephalopod molluscs, such as squid, cuttlefish, and octopuses, are among the most neurologically advanced of all invertebrates—and either the giant squid or the colossal squid is the largest known invertebrate species. The gastropods ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
