Branched Dendronotus
Dendronotus venustus MacFarland, 1966
Description 2
Ground color translucent greyish-white. Irregular patches of yellow-green to brown-green occur on body, with smaller spots of olive to pale green and pale yellow to bright orange. Low conical papillae on body are tipped with yellow. Occasional individuals have a series of opaque white blotches medially on dorsum between successive pairs of cerata. The 5-6 opposite pairs of cerata bear rather short branches, which are flecked with yellow distally; cores light green to brown. Frontal veil bears 4-8 branched, tapered processes; of these, two on either side of median line are larger and relatively constant, between these may occur smaller, less branched processes. Rhinophores bear 6-14 lamellae. A short process with short branches occurs distally near base of rhinophore shaft. Rhinophore sheath bears 4-5 branched processes, postero-medial process longest and most branched. Rhinophores translucent greyish-green, with irregular patches of yellow-green to brown-green, clavus slightly darker shade of grayish-green.
Size 2
Typically about 25mm in length, but may exceed 100mm.
Geographic Range 2
California & northward. Possibly Peru (see: Uribe, et al., 2013 in references below).
Notes 2
A highly variable species, previously confused with Dendronotus frondosus which occurs on the east coast of North America, & in Britain & Europe.
References 2
MACFARLAND, F. M. 1966. Studies of opisthobranchiate mollusks of the Pacific coast of North America. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 6:1-546, pls. 1-72. PDF
McDONALD, G. R. 1983. A review of the nudibranchs of the California coast. Malacologia 24(1-2):114-276. PDF
ROBILLIARD, G. A. 1970. The systematics and some aspects of the ecology of the genus Dendronotus. The Veliger 12(4):433-479, pls. 63-64. PDF
STOUT, C. C., M. POLA, & Á. VALDÉS. 2010. Phylogenetic analysis of Dendronotus nudibranchs with emphasis on northeastern Pacific species. Journal of Molluscan Studies 76(4):367-375. PDF
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF MARINE INVERTEBRATE TAXONOMISTS. 2018. A taxonomic listing of benthic macro- and megainvertebrates from infaunal & epibenthic monitoring and research programs in the southern California bight, edition 12, 1 July 2018, xviii + 167 pp. PDF
URIBE, R. A., K. NAKAMURA, A. INDACOCHEA, A. S. PACHECO, Y. HOOKER & M. SCHRÖDL. 2013. A review on the diversity and distribution of opisthobranch gastropods from Peru, with the addition of three new records (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia). Spixiana (Zeitschrift für Zoologie) 36(1):43-60. PDF
Additional Info 2
Sources and Credits
- (c) Gary McDonald, all rights reserved, uploaded by Gary McDonald
- (c) Gary McDonald, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
