Doto cabecar explained

Doto cabecar is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Dotidae.

Distribution

This species was described from the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. It has subsequently been reported from the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.^[1]

Description

This nudibranch is pale brown with yellow rhinophores and cerata. The ceratal tubercles bear dark spots, except for the terminal tubercle on each ceras, which has a concentration of internal white glands.^[2] Further details of this species are given in Ortea & Caballer, 2003.^[3]

The maximum recorded body length is 14 mm.^[4]

Ecology

Minimum recorded depth is 20 m.^[4] Maximum recorded depth is 20 m.^[4]

Doto cabecar feeds on the hydroid, Thyroscyphus marginatus (family Sertulariidae).

Notes and References

1. Valdés, Ángel; Hamann, Jeff; Behrens, David W.; DuPont, Anne. Caribbean Sea Slugs, Sea Challengers Natural History Books, Etc., Gig Harbor, Washington 2006, pp. 150-151.
2. http://darnis.inbio.ac.cr/ubisen/FMPro?-DB=UBIPUB.fp3&-lay=WebAll&-error=norec.html&-Format=detail.html&-Op=eq&id=5022&-Find Doto cabecar account at INBio.
3. Ortea, J. A., & M. Caballer. (2003) Nuevos caracteres anatómicos de Doto cabecar Ortea, 2001 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia). Avicennia, Revista de Oceanología, Ecología y Biodiversidad Tropical 16:107-112.
4. Welch J. J. (2010). "The “Island Rule” and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. .