Okenia hallucigenia

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

Okenia hallucigenia
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. hallucigenia
Binomial name
Okenia hallucigenia
Rudman, 2004[1]

Etymology

This species was named because of its resemblance to the shape of the Cambrian fossil Hallucigenia.

Distribution

This species was described from Australia. It is known from central New South Wales north to Northern Australia and on the west coast south to Kimberley in Western Australia.[3]

Description

This Okenia has a narrow body and long lateral papillae. The body is bright pink and just the tips of the mantle processes, the gills and the rhinophores are a deeper pink.

Ecology

The diet of this species is the bryozoan Pleurotoichus clathratus. This sea slug is very similar to Okenia stellata, and can be found with that species on the same food. There are two other species from southern Japan, the Marshall Islands, the Philippines and Indonesia which are also similar to this species, and those are Okenia nakamotoensis and Okenia kondoi.

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. Bouchet, P. (2015). Okenia hallucigenia Rudman, 2004. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-10-23
  3. Rudman, W.B., 2004 (December 21) Okenia hallucigenia Rudman, 2004. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
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