Palisa papillata explained

Palisa papillata is a species of sea slug, specifically an aeolid nudibranch. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.^[1] It is the only species in the genus Palisa.

Distribution

Distribution of Palisa papillata includes Florida, Jamaica and Panama. The holotype of this species was found at Port Royal, Jamaica and a specimen from Miami, Florida was included in the original description.^[2]

Description

The body is elongate. Rhinophores are tuberculate. Oral tentacles are long. Cerata are arranged in clusters forming a single row along each side of the dorsum. Background color is translucent gray with numerous opaque white spots on both the dorsum and cerata. Cerata are with a pale blue digestive gland and characteristic black or dark brown spots at the base. The maximum recorded body length is 15 or 16 mm.^[3]

Habitat

Minimum recorded depth is 0.1 m.^[3] Maximum recorded depth is 1 m.^[3]

It was found among algae in Panama. It is probably feeding on epiphytic hydroids.

References

This article incorporates Creative Commons (CC-BY-4.0) text from the reference^[4]

Notes and References

1. Rosenberg, G. (2015). Palisa papillata Edmunds, 1964. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-12-25
2. DuPont, A. (2009) Palisa papillata JaxShells.org
3. Welch J. J. (2010). "The “Island Rule” and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. .
4. 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.