''Kalinga ornata'' is a species of large, colourful

nudibranch Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs which shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to match, ...

in the family

Polyceridae The Polyceridae are a taxonomic family of sea slugs, dorid nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks within the superfamily Polyceroidea. Taxonomy The family Polyceridae is classified within the clade Doridacea, itself belonging to the clade Euc ...

. It is the only species in the genus ''Kalinga'', which is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal ...

of the subfamily Kalinginae.

Distribution

''Kalinga ornata'' resides in the deep coastal waters of the

Indo-West Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

(though it has also been reported from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

). Rudman, W. B., 1999 (November 17)
Kalinga ornata.
n/nowiki> Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Accessed 5 June 2010. Kelley, C., 2002 (May 2
''Kalinga ornata'' from deepwater off Hawaii."
essage in/nowiki> Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Accessed 5 June 2010. While it occasionally washes up in shallow regions, live individuals have been observed by divers at a depth of 6 m,Gosliner, Terry
"Nudi of the Week is Kalinga ornata."
The Slug Site. Accessed 5 June 2010. they have been trawled from depths of 76 m, and observed by an ROV at a depth of 182 m.

Description

''Kalinga ornata'' is nocturnal, reaching sizes of at least 130 mm, and prefers sandy or silty substrate. It has been shown to feed on

brittle star Brittle stars, serpent stars, or ophiuroids (; ; referring to the serpent-like arms of the brittle star) are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea, closely related to starfish. They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomot ...

s, a completely unique diet for a nudibranch.Rie Nakano, Jiro Uochi, Toshihiko Fujita and Euichi Hirose, 2011. ''Kalinga ornata'' Alder & Hancock, 1864 (Nudibranchia: Polyceridae): a unique case of a sea slug feeding on echinoderms. Journal of Molluscan Studies. Volume 77, issue 4, pages 413-416

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3812599 Polyceridae Gastropods described in 1864