''Cerberilla affinis'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

sea slug Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails (marine gastropod mollusks) that over evolutionary t ...

, an aeolid nudibranch, 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 debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

heterobranch

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Aeolidiidae Aeolidiidae, a family of aeolid nudibranchs, are a family of sea slugs, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs.Bouchet, P. (2014)''Aeolidiidae'' Gray, 1827.Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2014-10-24 Most, or perhaps all, mem ...

.Bouchet, P. (2015)
''Cerberilla affinis''.
In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-11-09 It was described as a variety by Bergh, 1888 but elevated to species status by Burn, 1966.Burn R (1966) ''Descriptions of Australian Eolidacea (Mollusca: Opisthobranchia) 4. The genera ''Pleurolidia'', ''Fiona'', ''Learchis'' and ''Cerberilla'' from Lord Howe Island.'' J Malac Soc of Aust 10: 21–34.

Distribution

This species was described from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It has been reported from localities in the

Central Indo-Pacific The Central Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean, and the connecting seas. The Central Indo-Pacific is a part of the larger Indo-Pacific, w ...

region to Lord Howe Island, the eastern Australian mainland and New Caledonia and is probably widespread in the West Pacific.Rudman, W.B., 1999 (November 25
''Cerberilla affinis'' Bergh, 1888.
n/nowiki> Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.

Description

All ''Cerberilla'' species have a broad foot and the cerata are long and numerous, arranged in transverse rows across the body. In this species the long oral tentacles have bands of dark blue and there is a narrow band of black on each of the cerata. Two species from the Indian Ocean, '' Cerberilla africana'' Eliot, 1903 (East Africa) and '' Cerberilla moebii'' (Bergh, 1888) -

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

are similar in colour.

Ecology

Species of ''Cerberilla'' live on and in sandy substrates where they burrow beneath the surface and feed on burrowing sea anemones.

References

* Marshall, J.G. & Willan, R.C. 1999. ''Nudibranchs of Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef.'' Leiden : Backhuys 257 pp. {{Taxonbar, from=Q13459851 Aeolidiidae Gastropods described in 1888