Misplaced Pages

Melibe viridis
Melibe viridis, anterior end at the front with the large rounded oral hood
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Nudibranchia
Suborder:	Cladobranchia
Family:	Tethydidae
Genus:	Melibe
Species:	M. viridis
Binomial name
Melibe viridis (Kelaart, 1858)
Synonyms
Melibe fimbriata Alder & Hancock, 1864 Melibe rangi Bergh, 1875 Melibe vexillifera Bergh, 1880 Propomelibe mirifica Allan, 1932 Melibe mirifica Allan, 1932 Melibe japonica Eliot, 1913 Melibe fimbriata Alder & Hancock, 1864

Melibe viridis is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Tethydidae.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Andaman Sea off Phuket, off Mozambique and off Indonesia. Its habitat is sandy and muddy areas between 3 m and 15 m deep.

Description

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2012)

The body reaches a length of 140 mm. Like some other nudibranch species, M. viridis has an oral veil that it uses to trap prey. This species has a particular morphology that easily distinguishes it from other nudibranchs. The body is elongated, beige to brown in color. The Melibe has a number of pairs of ceratas along the body, each of which acts as a gill. The ceratas are often darker in color than the body, sometimes with an orange apical part, their size decreasing towards the anterior part.

References

1. Allan J. K. (1932). "A new genus and species of sea-slug, and two new species of sea-hares from Australia". Records of the Australian Museum 18(6): 314–320.
2. Eliot C. N. E. (1913). "Japanese nudibranchs". Journal of the College of Science, Tokyo Imp. University, 35: 1–47. Plates 1-2.
3. Gosliner T. M. & Smith V. G. (2003). "Systematic review and phylogenetic analysis of the nudibranch genus Melibe (Opistobranchia: Dendronotacea) with descriptions of three new species". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 54: 302–355. PDF.
4. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Melibe viridis (Kelaart, 1858)". www.marinespecies.org.
5. Wyeth, Russell C.; Willows, A. O. Dennis (April 2006). "Field Behavior of the Nudibranch Mollusc Tritonia diomedea". The Biological Bulletin. 210 (2): 81–96. doi:10.2307/4134598. ISSN 0006-3185. JSTOR 4134598. PMID 16641514. S2CID 877812.
6. "nudibranch with large cerata and hood veil and papillae or low conical tubercle". seaslugs.free.fr. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
7. Rudman, W. B. (2010-07-15). "The Sea Slug Forum - Melibe viridis". www.seaslugforum.net. New South Wales: Australian Museum. Retrieved 2021-12-06.

• MacNae, W. & M. Kalk (eds) (1958). A natural history of Inhaca Island, Mozambique. Witwatersrand Univ. Press, Johannesburg. I-iv, 163 pp.
• Gosliner T.M. (1987) Review of the nudibranch genus Melibe (Opisthobranchia: Dendronotacea) with descriptions of two new species. The Veliger 29(4): 400–414
• Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213
• Streftaris, N.; Zenetos, A.; Papathanassiou, E. (2005). Globalisation in marine ecosystems: the story of non-indigenous marine species across European seas. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Annu. Rev. 43: 419–453
• Gosliner T.M. & Smith V.G. (2003) Systematic review and phylogenetic analysis of the nudibranch genus Melibe (Opisthobranchia: Dendronotacea) with descriptions of three new species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 54: 302–356.
• 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.

External links

• Media related to Melibe viridis at Wikimedia Commons
• Melibe viridis | World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 5 December 2023
• Melibe viridis | Sea Slug Forum. Retrieved 5 December 2023
• Melibe japonica | Sea Slug Forum. Retrieved 5 December 2023
• "Melibe fimbriata". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
• Photos of Melibe viridis on Sealife Collection
• Ben G Thomas (Feb 8, 2021) Melibe viridis - Animal of the Week Youtube video 5:31

This Heterobranchia-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• Tethydidae
• Gastropods described in 1858
• Heterobranchia stubs