Cadlina luteomarginata, common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

 the yellow-edged cadlina, is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of colorful sea slug

Slug

Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...

, a dorid nudibranch

Nudibranch

A nudibranch is a member of what is now a taxonomic clade, and what was previously a suborder, of soft-bodied, marine gastropod mollusks which shed their shell after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colors and striking forms...

, a shell-less marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 gastropod mollusk in the family Cadlinidae

Cadlinidae

Cadlinidae is a family of sea slugs, dorid nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Doridoidea. This family is within the clade Euctenidiacea....

.

Distribution

This dorid nudibranch lives in the eastern Pacific from Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 to Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. Reports of this species from the eastern coast of North America, need to be investigated. Currently, there is no concrete evidence that this species occurs in the Atlantic Ocean.

Description

The yellow-edged cadlina is a white, oval-shaped seaslug with yellow projections on the dorsum

Dorsum (biology)

In anatomy, the dorsum is the upper side of animals that typically run, fly, or swim in a horizontal position, and the back side of animals that walk upright. In vertebrates the dorsum contains the backbone. The term dorsal refers to anatomical structures that are either situated toward or grow...

 and a bright yellow rim to the mantle . It shows near the rear end a ring of six yellow-tipped feathery gills and rhinophore

Rhinophore

A rhinophore is one of a pair of club-shaped structures which are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy of a group of sea slugs, marine gastropod opisthobranch mollusks in the order Nudibranchia, the nudibranchs, specifically the dorid nudibranchs.- Etymology :The name relates to the...

s. The antenae are comblike. The radula

Radula

The radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...

 has strongly hooked lateral teeth. Their subepithelial

Epithelium

Epithelium is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. Epithelial tissues line the cavities and surfaces of structures throughout the body, and also form many glands. Functions of epithelial cells include secretion, selective...

 glands are compound and consist of large vacuoles with bluish stained content. Agglomerations of glandular tissue can be found on the apex of the tubercle

Tubercle

A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection, but it has slightly different meaning depending on which family of plants or animals it is used to refer to....

s.

C. luteomarginata produces the twenty three carbon terpenoid

Terpenoid

The terpenoids , sometimes called isoprenoids, are a large and diverse class of naturally occurring organic chemicals similar to terpenes, derived from five-carbon isoprene units assembled and modified in thousands of ways. Most are multicyclic structures that differ from one another not only in...

 Luteone.

Life habits

This species lives under rocks and in tidepools from the intertidal zone

Intertidal zone

The intertidal zone is the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide . This area can include many different types of habitats, with many types of animals like starfish, sea urchins, and some species of coral...

 to a depth of about 20 m in the circalittoral zone. It eats several species of spiculate sponges and also sponges from the order Dendroceratida

Dendroceratida

In taxonomy, the Dendroceratida are an order of sponges of the class Demospongiae. They are typically found in shallow coastal and tidal areas of most coasts around the world. They are generally characterized by concentric layers of spongin fibers, and large flagellated chambers that open...

. It is predated on by seastars, such as Solaster dawsoni.

Footnotes

• Debelius, H. & Kuiter, R.H. (2007) Nudibranchs of the world. ConchBooks, Frankfurt, 360 pp. ISBN 978-3-939767-06-0 page(s): 212

External links

• Sea Slug Forum species fact sheet