Glossodoris pallida

Glossodoris pallida
Glossodoris pallida from northern Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia

Superfamily: Doridoidea
Family: Chromodorididae
Genus: Glossodoris
Species: G. pallida
Binomial name
Glossodoris pallida
Ruppell & Leuckart, 1828 [1]

Glossodoris pallida is a species of a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chromodorididae.

Distribution

This species occurs in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean. It has been observed in locations as far apart as Tanzania in Africa, Hachijo Island in Japan and Queensland in Australia.[1]

Description

Glossodoris pallida is semi-translucent-white all over with a thin yellow-margined mantle. It also has opaque white patches on its upper mantle. Both its gills and rhinophores are also white.

Glossodoris pallida

Ecology

This species, like many other nudibranchs, feeds on sponges. It has also been seen feeding on grey-black sponges from the Cacospongia genus.

Glossodoris pallida, like other Chromodorid nudibranchs, stores chemicals it gains from the sponges it eats within its body. These chemicals are unpalatable to fish and other creatures, making the nudibranch much less likely to be eaten.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 Sea Slug Forum, accessed 17 December 2009.
  2. Sea Slug Forum Messages, accessed 14 December 2009.
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