Cephalopyge trematoides is a pelagic species of nudibranch. A free-swimming marine gastropod in the family Phylliroidae.[2] Cephalopyge trematoides is the only known species in its genus (i.e. the genus is monotypic).[3]
| Cephalopyge trematoides | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
| Order: | Nudibranchia |
| Suborder: | Cladobranchia |
| Family: | Phylliroidae |
| Genus: | Cephalopyge Hanel, 1905 |
| Species: | C. trematoides
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cephalopyge trematoides (Chun, 1889)
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| Synonyms | |
| |
Etymology edit
Cephalopyge is a contraction of cephalus (Greek: κεφαλή kephale, "head") and pyge (πūγή, "behind") referring to the position of the anus close to the head. The species epithet trematoides expresses a likeness to flukes.[1]
Description edit
C. trematoides grows to 2.5 cm in length. It swims at approximately 12 cm/s, by passing several undulatory waves down its body each second.[4] It is flattened and transparent; its internal organs are visible.[3]
Pelagic nudibranchs edit
Of the approximately 3000 species of nudibranch, the vast majority are benthic, only a couple are neustonic, and C. trematoides is very unusual in that it is pelagic.[5][6] It is estimated to be one of only five planktonic nudibranch species (another epipelagic example is Phylliroe bucephala).[7]
Further information (including photos):
References edit
- ^ a b Lalli, Carol M.; Gilmer, Ronald W. (1989). Pelagic Snails: The Biology of Holoplanktonic Gastropod Mollusks. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804714907.
- ^ World Register of Marine Species
- ^ a b Marine species identification portal: Cephalopyge and Cephalopyge trematoides.
- ^ Sea Slugs of Hawaii
- ^ J.E. Steinberg, The pelagic nudibranch, Cephalopyge trematoides (Chun, 1889), in New South Wales with a note on other species in this genus, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 81:184-192 (1956) [1]
- ^ G.M. Mapstone & M.N. Arai, Siphonophora (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) of Canadian Pacific Waters, p.33. "The best documented predators of pelagic cnidarians from the phylum Mollusca are the neustonic nudibranchs and snails [...and] the pelagic nudibranch [...]"
- ^ Orso Angulo-Campillo, Gerardo Aceves-Medina and Raymundo Avedaño-Ibarra, Holoplanktonic mollusks (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from the Gulf of California, México [2] Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine