''Notarchus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 ...

s or

sea hare The order Aplysiida, commonly known as sea hares ('' Aplysia'' species and related genera), are medium-sized to very large opisthobranch gastropod molluscs with a soft internal shell made of protein. These are marine gastropod molluscs in t ...

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 ...

opisthobranch Opisthobranchs () is a now 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. Euopistho ...

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 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 ...

Aplysiidae Aplysiidae is the only family in the superfamily Aplysioidea, within the clade Anaspidea. These animals are commonly called sea hares because, unlike most sea slugs, they are often quite large, and when they are underwater, their rounded body sha ...

, the sea hares.Bouchet, P. (2012). Notarchus Cuvier, 1817. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=204962 on 11 June 2012

Description

The

parapodia In invertebrates, the term parapodium ( Gr. ''para'', beyond or beside + ''podia'', feet; : parapodia) refers to lateral outgrowths or protrusions from the body. Parapodia are predominantly found in annelids, where they are paired, unjointed late ...

(fleshy winglike outgrowths) of ''Notarchus'' are almost completely fused, forming the parapodial cavity.

Life habits

These sea hares are able to swim by jet propulsion, through sucking in water through the small anterior opening of the parapodial cavity and then squirting water from the back of it. While doing so, they tumble and make a series of backward somersaults. In this unusual manner, they move quickly out of harm's way over short distances.

Species

Species within the genus ''Notarchus'' include: *'' Notarchus indicus'' Schweigger, 1820 : Indian sea hare **Distribution : in shallow waters of NW

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, NW

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. **Description : fine papillae scattered over the mantle; no armed penis; feeds on green alga

Caulerpa ''Caulerpa'' is a genus of seaweeds in the family Caulerpaceae (among the green algae). They are unusual because they consist of only one cell with many cell nucleus, nuclei, making them among the biggest single cells in the world. Referring to ...

. *'' Notarchus punctatus'' Philippi, 1836 **Distribution :

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, Indo-Chinese seas,

. **Length : 5 cm **Description : penis with spines. NotarchusPunctatusSeaSlugSwimming

;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Notarchus ceylonicus'' Farran, 1905: synonym of '' Notarchus indicus'' Schweigger, 1820 * ''Notarchus pleii'' (Rang, 1828): synonym of ''

Bursatella leachii ''Bursatella leachii'', whose common name is the ragged sea hare or shaggy sea hare, is a species of large sea slug: a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusk in the sea hare family Aplysiidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase''Bursatella ...

'' pleii Rang, 1828 * ''Notarchus polyomma'' Mörch, 1863: synonym of ''

Stylocheilus striatus ''Stylocheilus striatus'' is a species of sea hare found in the Indo-pacific region living from the intertidal zone to a depth of 30 metres. Common names include lined sea hare, blue ring sea hare and furry sea hare. Mature animals can reach size ...

'' (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832) * ''Notarchus savignyanus'' : synonym of ''Bursatella leachii savigniana'' Audouin, 1826 * ''Notarchus timidus'' Risso, 1818: synonym of ''

Elysia timida ''Elysia timida'' is a species of sacoglossan sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk. Found in the Mediterranean and nearby parts of the Atlantic, it is herbivorous, feeding on various algae in shallow water. Description ''Elysia ti ...

'' ( Risso, 1818)

References

Yonow N. (2012) ''Opisthobranchs from the western Indian Ocean, with descriptions of two new species and ten new records (Mollusca, Gastropoda).'' ZooKeys 197: 1–129. [22 May 2012]

External links

*

Aplysiidae Gastropod genera Taxa named by Georges Cuvier {{Aplysiidae-stub