Berthellina quadridens explained

Berthellina quadridens is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurobranchidae.

Distribution

Distribution of Berthellina quadridens includes Mexico, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Aruba, Curaçao, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Sint Maarten, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil.

The type locality is Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Description

The body is oval and inflated. Dorsum is smooth, covering the internal shell, which is located over the anterior portion of the viscera. The anterior end of the body has a large oral veil. Rhinophores are rolled, emerging between the veil and the dorsum. The color is yellow to orange, semi-translucent. It is up to 25 mm long. Welch (2010) listed that the maximum recorded length is 80 mm.^[1]

Ecology

Minimum recorded depth is 0 m.^[1] Maximum recorded depth is 50 m.^[1]

It possibly feeds on sponges and likely on the corals Orbicella faveolata and Orbicella annularis as well as on Anemones.

References

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

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.