Doto bella is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Dotidae.
| Doto bella | |
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| Right side view of Doto bella | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Nudibranchia |
| Suborder: | Cladobranchia |
| Family: | Dotidae |
| Genus: | Doto |
| Species: | D. bella
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| Binomial name | |
| Doto bella | |
Distribution
editThis species was described from the Izu Peninsula, Japan. It is widely distributed on the Pacific Ocean coasts of Japan and the Japan Sea coasts. A species from Indonesia has previously been identified as Doto bella but is now thought to be an undescribed species.[2][3][4]
Description
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This nudibranch is transparent white with a diffuse, sub-epidermal layer of black pigment which is faint in some specimens and very dense in others. The ceratal tubercles are slightly stalked with globular tips which have a large black spot which is partly obscured by white glands in the terminal tubercle. The digestive gland is usually yellow. The outer half of the rhinophores is black.[5]
Ecology
editDoto bella has been photographed on a colony of a hydroid, probably in the family Aglaopheniidae on which it presumably feeds.[6]
References
edit- ^ Baba, K. 1938. Three new nudibranchs from Izu, Middle Japan. Annotationes Zoologicae Japonenses 17(2):130-133.
- ^ Behrens, D. W. (2004). Doto bella. In: The Slug Site, Ed. Miller, M.
- ^ Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Apr 7). Comment on Doto from Indonesia by Tony Wu. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
- ^ Gosliner, T.M., Valdés, A. & Behrens, D.W. (2015). Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification - Indo-Pacific. New World Publications, Jacksonville, Florida, 408 pp., Doto sp. 12, page 330.
- ^ Baba, K. 1971. Anatomical studies on three species of Doto (D. bella, D. japonica and D. pita) from Japan (Nudibranchia: Dendronotoidea: Dotoidae). Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory 19(2-3):73-79, pls. 4-5.
- ^ Doto bella feeding