''Discodoris branneri'' 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 dorid

nudibranch Nudibranchs () are a group of soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs, belonging to the order Nudibranchia, that shed their shells after their larval stage. They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms, and they have b ...

, shell-less marine

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 ...

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

s in the family

Discodorididae Discodorididae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of sea slugs, specifically dorid nudibranchs, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Doridoidea.Bouchet, P. (2011). Discodorididae. Accessed through: ...

.Gofas, S.; Bouchet, P.; Rosenberg, G. (2014)
''Discodoris branneri'' MacFarland, 1909.
Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-03-06

Distribution

The distribution of ''Discodoris branneri'' includes Florida, Texas, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Barbados, Martinique, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Brazil.

Description

The body is oval, moderately rigid. Dorsum is covered by numerous conical tubercles. Background color is variable, from cream to purplish brown, sometimes with black or white patches and spots.

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 ...

and gill are usually the same color as the dorsum with white tips. The maximum recorded length is 110 mm.Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". '' PLoS ONE'' 5(1): e8776. .

Habitat

Minimum recorded depth is 0 m; maximum recorded depth is 7 m. It was found under rocks in Panama. Members of this family feed on

sponges Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and ar ...

. When disturbed, this species autotomizes parts of the mantle.Bertsch, H., 2019
''Discodoris evelinae''.
Miller, M. ed. The Slug Site, accessed 2019-02-02.

References

This article incorporates Creative Commons (CC-BY-4.0) text from the referenceGoodheart J. A., Ellingson R. A., Vital X. G., Galvão Filho H. C., McCarthy J. B., Medrano S. M., Bhave V. J., García-Méndez K., Jiménez L. M., López G. & Hoover C. A. (2016). "Identification guide to the heterobranch sea slugs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Bocas del Toro, Panama". ''Marine Biodiversity Records'' 9(1): 56. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3140722 Discodorididae Gastropods described in 1909