Limacia clavigera (O. F. Müller, 1776)

Description

A small dorid (Polyceridae) reaching about 20 mm in body length. The body is white and the dorsum bears numerous orange-tipped club-shaped tubercles — the source of the specific epithet clavigera ("club-bearing").

The two rhinophores and the three gill plumes each end in an orange to orange-yellow tip. Small orange spots are scattered over the dorsum.

Distribution

North-east Atlantic temperate waters. Recorded from Norway south to Portugal along the European coast, throughout the British Isles, and into the western Mediterranean. The species is common in the lower intertidal and shallow subtidal of rocky reefs.

Etymology

The specific epithet clavigera combines Latin clava ("club") and -gera ("bearing"), meaning "club-bearing", in reference to the dorsal tubercles. The same character inspires the English vernacular name "Orange-clubbed Sea Slug".

Remarks

Originally described by Müller 1776 as Doris clavigera; the parentheses in the current author citation reflect the transfer to Limacia. MacFarland 1905, describing related north-east Pacific taxa, discussed the genus Laila (now treated as a synonym of Limacia) and described the related Limacia cockerelli. The species is bryozoan-feeding. Recent integrative taxonomic studies (Furfaro et al., 2017) suggest that Limacia clavigera sensu lato may comprise multiple cryptic species across its range, and revision is ongoing.

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References

• Limacia clavigera (genus context, Laila is unaccepted = Limacia), MacFarland F.M. (1905). A preliminary account of the Dorididae of Monterey Bay, California. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 18: 35-54.