''Tyrannodoris tigris'' 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 ...

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 time ...

, a polycerid

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, ...

, a marine gastropod

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

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 a known predator of '' Tambje eliora'' and '' Tambje abdere'', two species of smaller nudibranchs. The chemical extracts of all three species contain tambjamines, which were traced to ''Sessibugula translucens'', a food source of these species. It is hypothesized that tambjamines are a chemical defence mechanism against feeding by the spotted kelpfish ''

Gibbonsia elegans ''Gibbonsia elegans'', the spotted kelpfish, is a species of clinid native to subtropical waters of the Pacific Ocean from central California, U.S. to southern Baja California, Mexico. It prefers subtidal rocky habitats with seaweed down to a de ...

''.

Distribution

This species is found in the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

to Bahia de Banderas.

Description

''Tyrannodoris tigris'' can grow as large as 30 cm in length. Like other nudibranchs in the genus '' Tyrannodoris'', it is carnivorous and

predatory Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

, feeding on other sea slugs.Rudman, W.B., 2000 (December 28
''Roboastra tigris'' Farmer, 1978.
n/nowiki> Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7353268 Polyceridae Gastropods described in 1978