Okenia angelensis

Okenia angelensis common name Los Angeles Okenia, is a species of sea slug, specifically a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae.[2]

Okenia angelensis, front view

Okenia angelensis
Okenia angelensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Euctenidiacea
clade Doridacea
Superfamily:
Onchidoridoidea
Family:
Goniodorididae
Genus:
Okenia
Species:
O. angelensis
Binomial name
Okenia angelensis
Lance, 1966[1]

Distribution

This species was described from California. It is known from San Francisco Bay south to Mexico and has been reported from Chile.[3]

Description

This Okenia has a narrow body and seven to eight pairs of short lateral papillae. There are another eight papillae on the back, a pair in front of the rhinophores, two in the middle of the back and two pairs of two on either side of these, in front of the gills. The body is translucent and has many small spots of brown and larger spots of white pigment. It is similar in shape and arrangement of the papillae to Okenia mija, Okenia zoobotryon, Okenia harastii and Okenia distincta.

Ecology

The diet of this species is a bryozoan, possibly a species of Amathia or Bowerbankia which lives in shallow water and on floating structures.[4][5]

References
  1. Lance, J. 1966. New distributional records of some northeastern Pacific Opisthobranchiata (Mollusca: Gastropoda) with descriptions of two species. The Veliger 9(1):69–81.
  2. Bouchet, P. (2015). Okenia angelensis Lance, 1966. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-10-16
  3. Rudman, W.B., 2005 (January 1) Okenia angelensis Lance, 1966. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  4. Bryant, P. J. Molluscs of Southern California.
  5. Bertsch, H., 2006. Okenia angelensis Lance, 1966. At: Miller, M. 2015. Slugsite nudibranch of the week, 522.
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