Triopha catalinae

Triopha catalinae, commonly known as the sea clown triopha or sea clown, is a species of colorful sea slug called a nudibranch. Sea clowns are a shell-less marine, gastronomic mollusk in the taxonomic family Polyceridae.

Sea clown triopha
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
clade Euctenidiacea
clade Doridacea
Superfamily:
Polyceroidea
Family:
Polyceridae
Subfamily:
Triophinae
Genus:
Triopha
Species:
T. catalinae
Binomial name
Triopha catalinae
(Cooper, 1863)

The species' Latin name is named after Santa Catalina Island, California.

Distribution

This species lives in the Eastern Pacific from Alaska to Mexico, and has also been found in Japan and South Korea.[1][2]

Life habits

This nudibranch grazes on bryozoans.[2]

References
  1. Berhrens, D. W., 1980, Pacific Coast Nudibranchs: A guide to the opisthobranchs of the northeastern Pacific, Sea Challenger Books, Washington.
  2. Triopha catalinae (Cooper, 1863) Archived 16 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine Sea Slug Forum, accessed 17 July 2009.
  • SEM images of the radula can be found at Thompson, T.E.; Bebbington, A. (1973). "Scanning electron microscope studies of gastropod radulae". Malacologia. 14: 147–165.

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