''Aplysiopsis sinusmensalis'', the Table Bay nudibranch, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of sacoglossan

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 t ...

, a shell-less

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

opisthobranch Opisthobranchs () is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping. Euopisth ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk 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 e ...

in the family Hermaeidae.Jensen K. R. (November 2007)
"Biogeography of the Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia)"
. ''

Bonner zoologische Beiträge The ''Bonn Zoological Bulletin'' (''BzB''), formerly ''Bonner zoologische Beiträge'', is a peer reviewed open access journal dealing with zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not ...

'' 55(2006)(3-4): 255–281.

Distribution

This species is only known to occur in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It has been found off Blouberg, Milnerton, Oudekraal and Llandudno on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula and at Buffels Bay in False Bay. It appears to be

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to this area.Gosliner, T.M. 1987. ''Nudibranchs of Southern Africa''

Description

The Table Bay nudibranch is small, growing up to 20mm in total length. Its body is elongated and brown to olive green. It has a lighter brown white-margined band extending down the back of the head. Its cerata and rhinophores are broad and somewhat flattened.Zsilavecz, G. 2007. ''Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay''.

Ecology

The Table Bay nudibranch has been found in shallow water, mainly estuaries and tidal pools, on the green

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

Ulva Ulva (; gd, Ulbha) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, off the west coast of Mull. It is separated from Mull by a narrow strait, and connected to the neighbouring island of Gometra by a bridge. Much of the island is formed from ...

'' sp.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4780018 Hermaeidae Gastropods described in 1954