Misplaced Pages

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Okenia stellata" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Okenia stellata
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Nudibranchia
Superfamily:	Onchidoridoidea
Family:	Goniodorididae
Genus:	Okenia
Species:	O. stellata
Binomial name
Okenia stellata Rudman, 2004

Okenia stellata is a species of sea slug, specifically a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Goniodorididae.

Distribution

This species was described from Australia. It is known from central New South Wales north to Northern Australia and on the west coast south to Kimberley in Western Australia.

Description

This Okenia has an ovate body and long lateral papillae held in a radiating pattern. The body is bright pink and just the tips of the mantle processes, the gills and the rhinophores are a deeper pink. There is a pattern of thin red lines on the back.

Ecology

The diet of this species is the bryozoan Pleurotoichus clathratus. It is very similar to Okenia hallucigenia and can be found with this species on the same food. Okenia nakamotoensis and Okenia kondoi are a pair of species from southern Japan, the Marshall Islands, the Philippines and Indonesia which are also similar to this species.

References

1. Rudman W.B. (2004) Further species of the opisthobranch genus Okenia (Nudibranchia: Goniodorididae) from the Indo-West Pacific. Zootaxa 695 : 1-70
2. Bouchet, P. (2015). Okenia stellata Rudman, 2004. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-10-21
3. Rudman, W.B., 2004 (December 21) Okenia stellata Rudman, 2004. Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.

• Goniodorididae
• Gastropods described in 2004