Borealea nobilis is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine heterobranch mollusc in the family Flabellinidae.[2]

Borealea nobilis
Borealea nobilis from Gulen Dive Resort, Norway.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Nudibranchia
Suborder: Cladobranchia
Superfamily: Fionoidea
Family: Flabellinidae
Genus: Borealea
Species:
B. nobilis
Binomial name
Borealea nobilis
Synonyms
  • Coryphella nobilis A. E. Verrill, 1880
  • Coryphella sarsi Friele, 1903
  • Himatina nobilis ( A. E. Verrill, 1880)
  • Flabellina nobilis ( A. E. Verrill, 1880)

Distribution

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Borealea nobilis was described from a single specimen dredged in 145 m depth off Cape Cod in 1879. It is widely distributed in the northern Atlantic Ocean from Norway south to Ireland and on the North American coast south to New England.[3]

Description

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This species is translucent white with opaque white markings. The digestive gland in the cerata is either orange or red in colour. The rhinophores are pale yellow-brown in colour and covered with small papillae.[4][5]

This species grows to 40–50 mm (4–5 cm) in length. The maximum recorded body length is 63 mm.[6]

Ecology

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Minimum recorded depth is 20 m.[6] Maximum recorded depth is 190 m.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Verrill A. E. (1880-1881). Notice of recent additions to the marine Invertebrata of the northeastern coast of America, with descriptions of new genera and species and critical remarks on others. Part II - Mollusca, with notes on Annelida, Echinodermata, etc, collected by the United States Fish Commission. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 3: 356-409 [pp. 356-400 issued December 1880, 401-409 January 1881]
  2. ^ Picton, B. (2017). Borealea nobilis (A. E. Verrill, 1880). In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed on 2018-01-12.
  3. ^ ITIS Retrieved July 5, 2012
  4. ^ Rudman, W.B., 2001 (June 28) Flabellina nobilis (Verrill, 1880). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Retrieved April 13, 2015
  5. ^ seawater.no Retrieved July 5, 2012
  6. ^ a b c Welch J. J. (2010). "The “Island Rule” and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.