Biology:Triopha maculata

Short description: Species of gastropod

Triopha maculata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Heterobranchia
Order:	Nudibranchia
Suborder:	Doridina
Superfamily:	Polyceroidea
Family:	Polyceridae
Genus:	Triopha
Species:	T. maculata
Binomial name
Triopha maculata MacFarland, 1905

Triopha maculata ADULT with egg mass on giant kelp (Morro Bay, California)

Triopha maculata, common name spotted triopha or speckled triopha, is a species of colorful sea slug, a nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusk in the family Polyceridae. This species is very variable in color.

Distribution

This nudibranch lives in the eastern Pacific Ocean, from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada , to Baja California, Mexico. It also lives in Japan.

Description

Triopha maculata can, on rare occasions, grow as large as 180 mm (a little more than 7 inches) but usually the maximum length is 50 mm (about 2 inches.)

The color can be a very pale and translucent yellow, or it can be a darker yellow, orange, red, and even dark brown. There are always raised whitish spots, hence the name maculata, meaning spotted.

Life habits

This species feeds on bryozoans.

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  A 5 mm juvenile of the yellow form of Triopha maculata in a California tide pool.
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  A brown individual of Triopha maculata in a Central California tide pool.
• 
  Very colorful Triopha maculata at Hazard Reef, Montana de Oro State Park.

References

Behrens, D.W., 1980, Pacific Coast Nudibranchs: a guide to the opisthobranchs of the northeastern Pacific, Sea Challenger Books, Washington.

External links

• Sea Slug Forum: [1]

Wikidata ☰ Q3203299 entry