Okenia atkinsonorum

Okenia atkinsonorum is a species of colourful sea slug, specifically a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae.[2]

Okenia atkinsonorum
Okenia atkinsonorum, Nelson Bay NSW, head end towards the left
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. atkinsonorum
Binomial name
Okenia atkinsonorum
Rudman, 2007[1]

Distribution

This species is known from New South Wales, southeastern Australia and probably also from Northern New Zealand.[3]

Description

This brightly coloured species is completely pink. Only the tips of the mantle projections, rhinophores and gills have a darker shade of the same color. It does not have a traditionally shaped mantle, but instead has up to seven lateral appendages or papillae that protrude from the main body.

Ecology

This species feeds on the bryozoan Pleurotoichus clathratus.

References
  1. Rudman W.B. (2004) Further species of the opisthobranch genus Okenia (Nudibranchia: Goniodorididae) from the Indo-West Pacific. Zootaxa 695 : 1-70
  2. Rosenberg, G. (2015). Okenia atkinsonorum Rudman, 2007. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-10-23
  3. Rudman, W.B., 2007 (December 10) Okenia atkinsonorum Rudman, 2007. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
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