Asteronotus spongicolus

Asteronotus spongicolus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Nudipleura
clade Nudibranchia
Superfamily: Doridoidea
Family: Discodorididae
Genus: Asteronotus
Species: A. spongicolus
Binomial name
Asteronotus spongicolus
Gosliner & Valdes, 2002[1]

Asteronotus spongicolus is a species of sea slug or dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Discodorididae.[2]

Distribution

This species was described from Zanzibar, Tanzania with additional material from the mainland coast of Tanzania and also from Lizard Island, North Queensland, Australia.[3] It is also known from Malaysia and the Philippines.[4]

Ecology

Asteronotus spongicolus feeds on the leafy sponge Carteriospongia sp. and is well camouflaged on the undersides of the sponge blades.

References

  1. Gosliner T.M. & Valdés A. 2002. Sponging off of Porifera: new species of cryptic dorid nudibranchs (Mollusca, Nudibranchia) from the tropical Indo-Pacific. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, (4) 53(5): 51-61.
  2. Bouchet, P. (2016). Asteronotus spongicolus Gosliner & Valdés, 2002. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2016-10-24.
  3. Rudman, W.B., 2003 (January 15) Asteronotus spongicolus Gosliner & Valdes, 2002. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
  4. Gosliner T.M., Behrens D.W. & Valdés A. (2008) Indo-Pacific nudibranchs and sea slugs. Sea Challengers Natural History Books and California Academy of Sciences. 426 pp., page 174.
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