''Chromodoris quadricolor'' is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...
of very colourful
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 ...
, a dorid
nudibranch
Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs which shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have been given colourful nicknames to mat ...
, 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
* ...
opisthobranch
Opisthobranchs () is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping.
Euopis ...
gastropod mollusc. The specific epithet ''quadricolor'' means four-coloured, so-named because this nudibranch is yellow, white, blue and black in color.
Distribution
This dorid nudibranch was described from the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
where it is one of the commonest nudibranchs. It has been reported from other localities in the Western Indian Ocean.
Ecology
This species feeds on the red sponge ''Negombata magnifica'' (Keller, 1889).
[Rudman W.B. & Bergquist, P.R., 2007. ''A review of feeding specificity in the sponge-feeding Chromodorididae (Nudibranchia: Mollusca).'' Molluscan Research 27(2): 60–88.]
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1810957
Chromodorididae
Gastropods described in 1828