Capellinia vittata (Alder & Hancock, 1842)

Description

A small aeolid nudibranch reaching about 20 mm in length. The body is pale buff with fine fawn-coloured speckling. Cerata are smooth and cylindrical, with the white to translucent digestive gland visible through the ceratal wall. Near the apex of each ceras is a white ring, with one to three darker (greenish to brownish) transverse bands arranged below it. The rhinophores and oral tentacles are smooth and taper towards the tip.

Distribution

Originally described from the coast of Northumberland, north-east England, in deeper water off Cullercoats. Broadly distributed across the Northeast Atlantic, from Norway south to Galicia, Spain.

Etymology

The specific epithet vittata is Latin for "ribboned" or "banded", in reference to the transverse colour bands on the cerata.

Remarks

Feeds almost exclusively on the plumulariid hydroid Kirchenpaueria pinnata.

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References

• Eolis vittata n. sp., Alder J. & Hancock A. (1842). Descriptions of several new species of nudibranchous Mollusca found on the coast of Northumberland. Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 9(56): 31-36.
• Capellinia vittata (Alder and Hancock, 1842) comb. nov., Korshunova T., Fletcher K. & Martynov A. (2025). The endless forms are the most differentiated—how taxonomic pseudo-optimization masked natural diversity and evolution: the nudibranch case. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 204(4): zlaf057. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf057