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 Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Nudibranchia
Superfamily: Polyceroidea
Family: Polyceridae
Genus: Triopha
Species:
T. catalinae
Binomial name
Triopha catalinae
(Cooper, 1863)

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

Distribution

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

Life habits

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This nudibranch grazes on bryozoans.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Berhrens, D. W., 1980, Pacific Coast Nudibranchs: A guide to the opisthobranchs of the northeastern Pacific, Sea Challenger Books, Washington.
  2. ^ a b Triopha catalinae (Cooper, 1863) Archived 16 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine Sea Slug Forum, accessed 17 July 2009.
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  • 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.