''Melibe papillosa'' 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
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
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 matc ...
, a
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
* ...
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
Tethydidae
Tethydidae is a family of dendronotid nudibranch gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Tritonioidea.Picton, B.; Bouchet, P. (2017). Tethydidae Rafinesque, 1815. In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http ...
.
This species is yellowish and somewhat translucent. The oral hood, which is large, has flattened hatchet-shaped cerata.
It is found in the waters around Japan.
References
Gosliner T.M. & Smith V.G. (2003) ''Systematic review and phylogenetic analysis of the nudibranch genus Melibe (Opisthobranchia: Dendronotacea) with descriptions of three new species''. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, (4) 54(18): 302-356.
External links
Tethydidae
Gastropods described in 1867
{{Heterobranchia-stub