''Eubranchus occidentalis'' 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 ...

or 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 * ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

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 ...

Eubranchidae.

Distribution

This species was described from Monterey Bay,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is considered by some authors to be a synonym of '' Eubranchus rustyus''.McDonald, G., (2015
''Eubranchus rustyus''.
Intertidal Invertebrates of the Monterey Bay Area, California.

Biology

MacFarland reports that this nudibranch feeds on the hydroid '' Hydractinia'', which grows on the holdfasts of ''

Cystoseira osmundacea ''Cystoseira'' is a genus of brown algae in the order Fucales. Description ''Cystoseira'' is characterized by highly differentiated basal and apical regions and the presence of catenate pneumatocysts (air-vesicles). In ''Cystoseira'' old plant ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q22285728 Eubranchidae Gastropods described in 1966