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Cephalopyge

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Cephalopyge
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Nudibranchia
Suborder: Cladobranchia
Family: Phylliroidae
Genus: Cephalopyge
Hanel, 1905
Species:
C. trematoides
Binomial name
Cephalopyge trematoides
(Chun, 1889)
Synonyms[2][3]

Genus synonymy

  • Bonneviia Pruvot-Fol, 1929
  • Boopsis Pierantoni, 1923
  • Ctilopsis André, 1906
  • Dactylopus Bonnevie, 1921
  • Nectophyllirhoe Hoffmann, 1922

Species synonymy

  • Boopsis mediterranea Pierantoni, 1923
  • Ctilopsis picteti André, 1906
  • Dactylopus michaelsarsii Bonnevie, 1921
  • Phylliroe trematoides Chun, 1889
  • Cephalopyge arabica [1]

Cephalopyge is a genus of pelagic nudibranchs comprising the single species Cephalopyge trematoides, a free-swimming marine gastropod in the family Phylliroidae.[2]

Etymology

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Cephalopyge is a contraction of cephalus (Greek: κεφαλή kephale, "head") and pyge (πūγή, "behind") referring to the position of the anus close to the head. The species epithet trematoides expresses a likeness to flukes.[1]

Description

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Cephalopyge trematoides grows to 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in length. It swims at approximately 12 cm/s (4.7 in/s), by passing several undulatory waves down its body each second.[4] It is flattened and transparent; its internal organs are visible.[5]

Pelagic nudibranchs

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Of the approximately 3000 species of nudibranch, the vast majority are benthic, only a couple are neustonic, and Cephalopyge trematoides is very unusual in that it is pelagic.[6][7] It is estimated to be one of only five planktonic nudibranch species (another epipelagic example is Phylliroe bucephala).[8]

Further information (including photos):

References

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  1. ^ a b Lalli, Carol M.; Gilmer, Ronald W. (1989). Pelagic Snails: The Biology of Holoplanktonic Gastropod Mollusks. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804714907.
  2. ^ a b "Cephalopyge". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Cephalopyge trematoides". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  4. ^ Sea Slugs of Hawaii
  5. ^ Marine species identification portal: Cephalopyge and Cephalopyge trematoides.
  6. ^ J.E. Steinberg, The pelagic nudibranch, Cephalopyge trematoides (Chun, 1889), in New South Wales with a note on other species in this genus, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 81:184-192 (1956) [1]
  7. ^ G.M. Mapstone & M.N. Arai, Siphonophora (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) of Canadian Pacific Waters, p.33. "The best documented predators of pelagic cnidarians from the phylum Mollusca are the neustonic nudibranchs and snails [...and] the pelagic nudibranch [...]"
  8. ^ Orso Angulo-Campillo, Gerardo Aceves-Medina and Raymundo Avedaño-Ibarra, Holoplanktonic mollusks (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from the Gulf of California, México [2] Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
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