The lemon pleurobranch (''Berthellina granulata'') is a
species of
sea slug, a
marine
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Marine or marines may refer to:
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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 ...
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 esti ...
in the family
Pleurobranchidae
The Pleurobranchidae are a taxonomic family of sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Pleurobranchomorpha.
Characteristics
Species in the family Pleurobranchidae have a prominent mantle and an internal shell that becomes re ...
.
Description
The lemon pleurobranch is a small smooth oval pleurobranch. The animal is yellow- to orange-coloured and often has white spots. There are two rolled
rhinophores joined at their bases on the head. Like all other
sidegill slugs, there is a single
gill on the right hand side of the body.
The animal grows up to 40 mm in total length.
Distribution
This animal has been found off the whole
southern African
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...
coast and is known throughout the Indo-Pacific to Hawaii.
[GOSLINER, T.M. 1987. ''Nudibranchs of Southern Africa'' ]
Ecology
The species is thought to be a scavenger. Its egg mass is an upright orange collar of one whorl.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6521363
Pleurobranchidae
Gastropods described in 1848
Taxa named by Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Krauss