Cratena lineata (Eliot, 1905)
Description
Body translucent yellowish white, with several white longitudinal lines running from the dorsum onto the tail. The cerata, arranged in 4–5 groups, also bear pale longitudinal lines and contain a reddish-brown to dark brown digestive gland visible through the surface. Conspicuous vermilion blotches are arranged in front of the rhinophores. Rhinophores are smooth and concolorous with the body, becoming yellowish white in their distal half; the oral tentacles are longer than the rhinophores and similarly tipped with yellowish white. Reaches about 15 mm in length.Distribution
Type locality: Zanzibar, East Africa. Widely distributed in the tropical Indo-West Pacific, with records from Tanzania, the western coast of India, Australia, the Philippines, and Japan. In Japanese waters the species was first reported from Seto, Kii Peninsula by the 1938 monograph as Cuthona (Hervia) lineata.Etymology
The specific epithet lineata is Latin for "lined" or "marked with lines," referring to the white longitudinal lines along the body and cerata. In the same paper Eliot described two differently coloured species as Hervia lineata and Facelina lineata; the latter remains a valid combination.Remarks
The Japanese vernacular "ハクセンミノウミウシ" was coined as a new name in Opisthobranchia of Sagami Bay (Biological Laboratory of the Imperial Household, 1949). The original genus Hervia is now treated as a synonym of Cratena Bergh, 1864, and the species is currently placed as Cratena lineata. It resembles Cratena sp. 2 (ニセハクセンミノウミウシ) in habitus but is distinguished by the well-developed white longitudinal lines along the dorsum.References
- Cuthona lineata, Baba K. (1938). Opisthobranchia Of Kii, Middle Japan. Journal of the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University. 6(1): 1-19. https://doi.org/10.5109/22587
- ハクセンミノウミウシ（新稱）, Baba K. (1949). Opisthobranchia of Sagami Bay collected by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan (相模湾産後鰓類図譜). Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo. 4+2+194+7 pp., pls. 1-50.
- Cratena lineata (Eliot), Edmunds M. (1970). Opisthobranchiate Mollusca from Tanzania. II. Eolidacea (Cuthonidae, Piseinotecidae and Facelinidae). Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. 39(1): 15-57.
- 高岡生物研究会. (2002). 日本海のウミウシ. 第2版.
- Cratena lineata (Eliot, 1905), Bharate M., Padula V., Apte D. & Shimpi G.G. (2020). Integrative description of two new Cratena species (Mollusca: Nudibranchia) from western India. Zootaxa. 4729(3): 359-370. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4729.3.4
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Photos of Cratena lineata
Tag:
Same Genus Nudibranchs
Similar Colors Nudibranchs
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Sea slug observation data is available in international marine biodiversity databases.