Aegires ortizi explained

Aegires ortizi is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a marine, opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Aegiridae.

The specific name ortizi is in honour of Dr. Manuel Ortiz from the Center for Marine Research, University of Havana.

Distribution

The distribution of Aegires ortizi includes the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Venezuela, Cuba and Panama.

Description

The body is elongate. The tubercles are large, varying from conical to mushroom-shaped, with flat tops in some individuals. Gill leaves forming a semicircle on the posterior portion of the dorsum. The background color is usually mottled white, sometimes with noticeable brown spots. It can be up to 8 mm long.^[1]

Ecology

Minimum recorded depth is 2 m.^[1] Maximum recorded depth is 5 m.^[1]

A single specimen was found on cyanobacteria over coral rubble and sand patches in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama. In the Bahamas, this species has been found on algae of the genera Cladophora and Sargassum.

References

This article incorporates Creative Commons (CC-BY-4.0) text from the reference^[2]

External links

• Fahey S. J. & Gosliner T. M. (2004). "A phylogenetic analysis of the Aegiridae Fischer, 1883 (Mollusca, Nudibranchia, Phanerobranchia) with descriptions of eight new species and a reassessment of Phanerobranch relationships". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (4)55(34): 613–689.

Notes and References

1. Welch J. J. (2010). "The “Island Rule” and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. .
2. Goodheart J. A., Ellingson R. A., Vital X. G., Galvão Filho H. C., McCarthy J. B., Medrano S. M., Bhave V. J., García-Méndez K., Jiménez L. M., López G. & Hoover C. A. (2016). "Identification guide to the heterobranch sea slugs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Bocas del Toro, Panama". Marine Biodiversity Records 9(1): 56.