Armina californica explained

Armina californica is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Arminidae.^[1]

This species occurs in the Eastern Pacific Ocean from Vancouver Island to Panama. It can commonly be found in a soft-bottom habitat^[2] from 1-230 meters in depth.^[3] Armina californica is characterized by longitudinal ridges of varying colors including light pink, cream, and brown. Features that differentiate Armina californica from the larger Armina species are separated rhinophores, rachidian teeth with 8-13 elongated denticles, and lateral teeth with 7-9 triangular denticles.

References

• SeaSlug info at: https://web.archive.org/web/20071016064757/http://seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=armicali
• Slugsite info at: http://slugsite.us/bow/nudwk123.htm
• Baez D.P., Ardila N., Valdés A. & Acero A. (2011) Taxonomy and phylogeny of Armina (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia: Arminidae) from the Atlantic and eastern Pacific. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 91(5): 1107-1121.
• Gosliner T.M. & Fahey S.J. (2011) Previously undocumented diversity and abundance of cryptic species: a phylogenetic analysis of Indo-Pacific Arminidae Rafinesque, 1814 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) with descriptions of 20 new species of Dermatobranchus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 161: 245–356. p. 2582

Notes and References

1. Rosenberg, G.; Bouchet, P. (2011). Armina californica (J. G. Cooper, 1863). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=558913 on 2012-04-15
2. Book: Baez, Diana P. . Taxonomy and phylogeny of Armina (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia: Arminidae) from the Atlantic and eastern Pacific . Ardila . Nestor . Valdes . Angel . Acero P. . Arturo . Cambridge University Press . 2011 . 21 January 2011 . 1113.
3. Book: McDonald, Gary R. . Guide to the Nudibranchs of California: including most species found from Alaska to Oregon . Nybakken . James W. . American Malacologists, Inc. . 1980 . 0-915826-08-9 . Melbourne, Florida, U.S.A. . 58.