Alexander Semenov, Russland
Info
Limapontia senestra (Quatrefages, 1844)
Limapontia senestra is distributed from the British Isles and the English Channel in the south to the Norwegian coast and the Barents Sea near Murmansk in the north. There are only a handful of observations along the Norwegian coast from Kristiansund, Tromsø and Varangerfjord.
This tiny snail only grows up to 6mm in size. The body is elongated and cylindrical, slightly wider in the middle of the upper side than at the head and tail. The body is completely smooth without any parapodia or cerata. The anus and kidney pore can be seen as two small holes in the middle of the side of the body. In the middle of the right side of the body we also find a small swelling caused by internal organs such as sperm sacs. At the very front of the head are a pair of short, finger-shaped rhinophores. The eyes are visible as two black dots directly behind the rhinophores.
The body color is olive brown to black, with the tail and area around the rhinophores being translucent white.
This snail is found in tide pools where it feeds on green algae of the genus Cladophora.
The egg mass is round, yellow and white and resembles a small fried egg. It only contains about 40 eggs. Each egg is up to 400 micrometers in diameter – the largest eggs of any species in the subclass Heterobranchs, according to Thompson (1976). The special thing about Limapontia senestra is that it does not have a larval stage, but hatches as a miniature version of the adult snail. Egg laying takes place in the White Sea, for example, in July and August.
The genus name "Limapontia", from the Greek "Limax", nudibranch + "pontos", of the sea.
The species name "senestra" probably comes from the Old French "senestre", from the Latin "sinistra", meaning left-wing, perverse, strange, bad, rejecting, hostile. What exactly the species name refers to is not known.
Limapontia senestra, along with Limapontia capitata and Limapontia depressa, are the only cell suckers that lack both parapodia and cerata. Limapontia senestra has short and finger-shaped rhinophores, unlike Limapontia capitata and Limapontia depressa, which lack distinct rhinophores.
Synonymised names
Actaeonia corrugata Alder & Hancock, 1848 · unaccepted (synonym)
Actaeonia senestra Quatrefages, 1844 · unaccepted
Acteonia senestra Quatrefages, 1844 · unaccepted > superseded combination
Cenia cocksii Alder & Hancock, 1848 · unaccepted
Limapontia cornuta Giard, 1873 · unaccepted (synonym)
Limapontia senestra is distributed from the British Isles and the English Channel in the south to the Norwegian coast and the Barents Sea near Murmansk in the north. There are only a handful of observations along the Norwegian coast from Kristiansund, Tromsø and Varangerfjord.
This tiny snail only grows up to 6mm in size. The body is elongated and cylindrical, slightly wider in the middle of the upper side than at the head and tail. The body is completely smooth without any parapodia or cerata. The anus and kidney pore can be seen as two small holes in the middle of the side of the body. In the middle of the right side of the body we also find a small swelling caused by internal organs such as sperm sacs. At the very front of the head are a pair of short, finger-shaped rhinophores. The eyes are visible as two black dots directly behind the rhinophores.
The body color is olive brown to black, with the tail and area around the rhinophores being translucent white.
This snail is found in tide pools where it feeds on green algae of the genus Cladophora.
The egg mass is round, yellow and white and resembles a small fried egg. It only contains about 40 eggs. Each egg is up to 400 micrometers in diameter – the largest eggs of any species in the subclass Heterobranchs, according to Thompson (1976). The special thing about Limapontia senestra is that it does not have a larval stage, but hatches as a miniature version of the adult snail. Egg laying takes place in the White Sea, for example, in July and August.
The genus name "Limapontia", from the Greek "Limax", nudibranch + "pontos", of the sea.
The species name "senestra" probably comes from the Old French "senestre", from the Latin "sinistra", meaning left-wing, perverse, strange, bad, rejecting, hostile. What exactly the species name refers to is not known.
Limapontia senestra, along with Limapontia capitata and Limapontia depressa, are the only cell suckers that lack both parapodia and cerata. Limapontia senestra has short and finger-shaped rhinophores, unlike Limapontia capitata and Limapontia depressa, which lack distinct rhinophores.
Synonymised names
Actaeonia corrugata Alder & Hancock, 1848 · unaccepted (synonym)
Actaeonia senestra Quatrefages, 1844 · unaccepted
Acteonia senestra Quatrefages, 1844 · unaccepted > superseded combination
Cenia cocksii Alder & Hancock, 1848 · unaccepted
Limapontia cornuta Giard, 1873 · unaccepted (synonym)
