''Rubramoena rubescens'' 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 ...

, an aeolid

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 ...

, a 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 ...

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 ...

Fionidae Fionidae is a family of sea slugs, aeolid nudibranchs, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Fionoidea. Taxonomic history This family was expanded to include Tergipedidae, Eubranchidae and Calmidae as a result of a molecular phylogenetic ...

.Gofas, S. (2014)
''Cuthona rubescens'' Picton & Brown, 1978.
Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-01-29

Distribution

This species was described from St. John's Point,

Dunkineely Dunkineely () is a small village and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. It is situated from the town of Donegal and from Killybegs on the N56 National secondary road. It is a small single street village with a population of around 350. Th ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It has been reported from the NE Atlantic from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

south to

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

.Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C., 2010
''Cuthona rubescens'' Picton & Brown, 1978.
nowiki> n/nowiki> Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland.

Description

The typical adult size of this species is 12–15 mm. It is very similar to ''

Rubramoena amoena ''Rubramoena amoena'' is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Fionidae. Distribution This species was described from Torbay, Devon, England. It has been reported from the NE Atlantic from Orkney ...

'', apart from differences in the colour pattern.Thompson, T.E. and Brown, G.H., 1984. Biology of Opisthobranch Molluscs, Volume II. The Ray Society. 229 pages 41 plates, 40 figures, p. 125.

Habitat

''Cuthona rubescens'' feeds on hydroids of the genus ''

Halecium ''Halecium'' is a genus of hydrozoans Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; from Ancient Greek ('; "water") and ('; "animals")) is a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit salin ...

'' especially ''

Halecium halecinum ''Halecium halecinum'', commonly known as the herring-bone hydroid, is a species of hydrozoan in the family Haleciidae. It is native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the western Atlantic Ocean and the eastern Pacific Ocean. Description This hydro ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3790625 Tergipedidae Gastropods described in 1978