Doto cuspidata

Doto cuspidata is a species of sea slug, a dendronotid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Dotidae.[2]

Doto cuspidata
The nudibranch Doto cuspidata, Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Dexiarchia
clade Cladobranchia
clade Dendronotida
Superfamily:
Tritonioidea
Family:
Dotidae
Genus:
Doto
Species:
D. cuspidata
Binomial name
Doto cuspidata
Alder & Hancock, 1862 [1]

Distribution

This species was first described from Shetland. It has subsequently been reported widely in Britain and Ireland as far south as Lundy Island, Bristol Channel.

Description

This dendronotid nudibranch has the body spattered with dark brown or black pigment on a cream background. In some individuals the black can merge to give an almost completely black animal. There are no spots on the tips of the ceratal tubercles, which are somewhat pointed and have small white glands inside them, as in most species of Doto. The rims of the rhinophore sheaths are normally divided into lobes.[3]

Ecology

Doto cuspidata feeds on the hydroid Nemertesia ramosa, family Plumulariidae.

References
  1. Alder J. & Hancock A., 1862. Descriptions of a new genus and some new species of naked Mollusca. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (3) 10: 261-265
  2. Gofas, S. (2015). Doto cuspidata Alder & Hancock, 1862. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-12-28
  3. Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C. (2015). Doto cuspidata Alder & Hancock, 1862. [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland. Accessed on 2015-12-28
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