Aeolidiopsis ransoni Pruvot-Fol, 1956
- Location
- Red Beach, Okinawa Island (East coast), Okinawa, Japan
- Date
- 2015/02/12
- Length
- 20mm
- Depth
- 4.0m
- Water temperature
- 20.7℃
Description
A small flattened aeolid reaching about 30 mm in length. The body is white; many individuals appear pale brown overall because of zooxanthellae sequestered from the prey. The cerata are thin and leaf-like and habitually lie folded sideways against the body, rarely raised. The rhinophores are smooth, rod-like, and match the body in colour.Distribution
Originally described from Kaukura Atoll, French Polynesia. Subsequently recorded broadly across the Indo-Pacific, including Madagascar, Malaysia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Japan, and Hawaii.Etymology
The specific epithet ransoni is presumed to honour the French zoologist Gilbert Ranson.Remarks
Lives on and feeds upon colonies of zoanthid corals, especially Palythoa. Distinguished from the related Aeolidiopsis harrietae by its smooth rhinophores, whereas those of A. harrietae are papillate.References
- Aeolidiopsis ransoni n. g., n. sp., Pruvot-Fol A. (1956). Un aeolidien nouveau des mers tropicales: Aeolidiopsis ransoni n. g., n. sp. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris. (2)28(2): 228-231.
- Carmona L., Pola M., Gosliner T.M. & Cervera J.L. 2014. Review of Baeolidia, the largest genus of Aeolidiidae (Mollusca: Nudibranchia), with the description of five new species. Zootaxa, 3802 (4): 477–514.
- Baeolidia ransoni, Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific. New World Pubns Inc.
- ランソンミノウミウシ（新称）, 中野理枝. (2018). 日本のウミウシ. 文一総合出版.
- Aeolidiopsis ransoni, Ortea J. & Moro L. (2020). Integrando la Historia en la Naturaleza: nuevo aeolidáceo (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) para recordar la gesta de Magallanes y Elcano. Avicennia. 26: 15-26.
Featured in this book
Terrence Gosliner, Ángel Valdés and David Behrens. (2018). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification Indo-Pacific 2nd Edition. New World Pubns Inc.
New World Publications
This species, Aeolidiopsis ransoni, is included in the book.
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Tag:
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
Academic Database
Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.