Doto onusta explained

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

It is considered a dubious synonym of Doto floridicola Simroth, 1888 by the World Register of Marine Species^[1]

Distribution

This species was first described from Brittany, France. It has rarely been reported since the original description. Henning Lemche identified it with the common species which feeds on the hydroid Dynamena pumila, predominantly in the intertidal region.^[2]

Description

This nudibranch is translucent white with dark red spots on the ceratal tubercles. The back and sides are spattered with red pigment which extends up the inner faces of the rhinophore sheaths.^[3] It is illustrated in colour in a more detailed publication by Hesse in 1873.^[4]

Ecology

Doto onusta feeds on the hydroid Dynamena pumila, family Sertulariidae.

Notes and References

1. Gofas, S. (2015). Doto onusta Hesse, 1872. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-11-24
2. Just, H, & Edmunds, M. 1985. North Atlantic nudibranchs (Mollusca) seen by Henning Lemche, with additional species from the Mediterranean and the north east Pacific. Ophelia Suppl. 2: 1-170.
3. Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C., 2010. Doto onusta Hesse, 1872. [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland]
4. Hesse, H. (1873) Memoire sur douze mollusques nudibranches nouveaux, recueillis en rade de Brest. Journal de Conchyliologie, series 3, 21:305-322, pls. 12-13, plate XIII.