''Tyrannodoris tigris'' 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 polycerid

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 ...

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

in the family

Polyceridae The Polyceridae are a taxonomic family of sea slugs, dorid nudibranchs, marine gastropod mollusks within the superfamily Polyceroidea. Taxonomy The family Polyceridae is classified within the clade Doridacea, itself belonging to the clade Eu ...

. It is a known predator of '' Tambje eliora'' and '' Tambje abdere'', two species of smaller nudibranchs. The chemical extracts of all three species contain

tambjamine Tambjamines are a group of natural products that are structurally related to the prodiginines. They are enamine derivatives of 4-methoxy-2,2'-bipyrrole-5-carboxaldehyde (MBC). Chemical structure Tambjamines are composed of two pyrrole rings with ...

s, which were traced to ''Sessibugula translucens'', a food source of these species. It is hypothesized that tambjamines are a chemical defence mechanism against feeding by the spotted kelpfish ''

Gibbonsia elegans ''Gibbonsia elegans'', the spotted kelpfish (called ''sargacero'' or ''sargacero manchado'' in Mexico), is a species of clinid native to subtropical waters of the Pacific Ocean from central California, U.S. to southern Baja California, Mexico. It ...

''.

Distribution

This species is found in the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

to Bahia de Banderas.

Description

''Tyrannodoris tigris'' can grow as large as 30 cm in length. Like other nudibranchs in the genus ''

Tyrannodoris ''Tyrannodoris'' is a genus of sea slugs, polycerid nudibranchs, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Polyceridae. Most of these species were formerly considered to belong to the genus '' Roboastra''. They are carnivorous, feeding on other sp ...

'', it is carnivorous and

predatory Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

, feeding on other sea slugs.Rudman, W.B., 2000 (December 28
''Roboastra tigris'' Farmer, 1978.
n/nowiki> Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7353268 Polyceridae Gastropods described in 1978