''Tritonicula wellsi'', the sea whip slug, 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 ...

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 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 * ...

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 Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Tritoniidae Tritoniidae is a taxonomic family of nudibranchs in the suborder Cladobranchia, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs.MolluscaBase (2018)Tritoniidae Lamarck, 1809.Accessed on 2021-01-01 This family includes some of the largest known nudibranchs, ...

. The type locality is

Beaufort, North Carolina Beaufort ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Carteret County, North Carolina, Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1713 and incorporated in 1723, Beaufort is the fourth oldest town in North Carolina (after Bath, Nor ...

.''Tritonia wellsi'' - Er. Marcus, 1961
Malacolog: A Database of Western Atlantic Marine Mollusca. Retrieved 2011-12-10. A number of Caribbean and western Pacific species of ''Tritonia'' were moved to a new genus ''Tritonicula'' in 2020 as a result of an integrative taxonomic study of the family Tritoniidae.

Description

''Tritonicula wellsi'' is white and grows to about 1.5 centimetres (0.6 in) long. The head bears a pair of

rhinophore 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 har ...

s (sensory organs) each with a sheath at its base. There are also six tentacles on the head in a transverse line. The body has two longitudinal rows of arborescent (tree-like)

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

s which resemble the polyps of the whip corals on which it lives and feeds. It is adapted for life on the coral, ''

Leptogorgia virgulata ''Leptogorgia virgulata'', commonly known as the sea whip or colorful sea whip, is a species of Alcyonacea, soft coral in the Family (biology), family Gorgoniidae.

'', and is found nowhere else. It closely resembles the related species, '' Tritonicula bayeri'', which has much the same range.

Distribution

''Tritonicula wellsi'' is found wherever its host occurs, on the western fringes of the Atlantic Ocean, from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

south to

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

.Caussat, M. 2021
''Tritonia wellsi''
Seaslugs Guadeloupe, accessed 2021-01-06.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3200904 Tritoniidae Gastropods described in 1961