Orange-peel_doris

Orange-peel doris
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda Family: Onchidorididae Genus: Acanthodoris Species: A. lutea
Binomial name
Acanthodoris lutea MacFarland, 1925

The orange-peel doris, (Acanthodoris lutea), is a species of nudibranch or sea slug, a shell-less marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Onchidorididae.

This species is the largest of the northeastern Pacific acanthodorids. It is a common species, and it is very noticeable because of its bright coloration, which is aposematic. The species name "lutea" is a Latin word which means an orange-yellow color.

As for the generic name, "acantho" comes from the Greek word meaning spiny, and "doris" is the name of an ancient Greek sea nymph.

Distribution

This dorid nudibranch lives on the Pacific coast of North America from Arago, Oregon to northern Baja California, Mexico.

Habitat

The orange-peel doris lives in the intertidal and subtidal zones on rocky shores.

Description

This nudibranch is large and can reach over 30 mm (over 1 foot) in length. It has a bright orange papillated dorsum covered with yellow specks. This coloration is a reminder to would be predators of its distasteful nature, in other words the color is aposematic.

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Life habits

Acanthodoris lutea feeds on encrusting bryozoans. It turns the chemicals received from the bryozoan food into a noxious metabolite which is toxic to possible predators (Morris et al. 1980). This species is aposomatically colored, warning predators of this toxic deterrent. If you handle this dorid you will smell the deterrent chemical on your fingers: it has the pungent aroma of sandalwood.

References

Books

Behrens D.W., 1980, Pacific Coast Nudibranchs: a guide to the opisthobranchs of the northeastern Pacific, Sea Challenger Books, Washington

External links

• Slugsite [1]
• Seaslug forum [2]

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia