''Pleurobranchaea tarda'', the dwarf warty pleurobranch, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some Marine biology, marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial Slug, slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are Sea snail, sea snails (marine gastropod moll ...

, a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine current power * Marine debris * Marine energy * Marine habitats * Mari ...

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Pleurobranchaeidae The Pleurobranchaeidae are a taxonomic family of sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Pleurobranchomorpha The Pleurobranchidae are a taxonomic family of sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Pleurobranchomorpha. ...

.Rosenberg, G. (2015). Pleurobranchaea tarda. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=160478 on 2015-10-20

Distribution

This species is found on the Atlantic coast of North America and West Africa, as well as off the South African coast, from the Atlantic coast of the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula () of South Africa is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of Good ...

Knysna Knysna (; ) is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It is situated 60 kilometres east of the c ...

intertidally to 60 m.

Description

''Pleurobranchaea tarda'' has an oval sandy-coloured body with a spade-shaped head and two widely separated rolled

rhinophores A rhinophore is one of a pair of chemosensory club-shaped, rod-shaped or ear-like structures which are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy in sea slugs, marine gastropod opisthobranch mollusks such as the nudibranchs, sea hare ...

. It has a single gill on the right hand side of its body and can grow to be 70 mm long. It may be confused with ''

Pleurobranchaea bubala ''Pleurobranchaea bubala'', the warty pleurobranch, is a species of sea slug, specifically a sidegill slug or notaspidean. It is a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Pleurobranchaeidae. Distribution This spe ...

'', which is bigger and has a rougher surface, but tends to live in shallower water.

Ecology

It is an enthusiastic predator on other opisthobranchs; and has even been seen eating smaller individuals of the same species. Its egg ribbon forms a sizeable roll of several white loops.Gosliner, T. M. 1987. ''Nudibranchs of Southern Africa''

References

* Abbott R. T. (1974) ''American seashells. The marine mollusca of the Atlantic and Pacific coast of North America''. ed. 2. Van Nostrand, New York. 663 pp., 24 pls {{Taxonbar, from=Q3142510 Pleurobranchaeidae Gastropods described in 1880