Amanda armata, the night sky nudibranch, is a species of sea slug, specifically an aeolid nudibranch. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.[2]
| Night sky nudibranch | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: | |
| Family: | |
| Subfamily: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | A. armata
|
| Binomial name | |
| Amanda armata | |
Distribution
editThis species is endemic to South Africa, having only been found around the coast on both sides of the Cape Peninsula, intertidally to about 15 m.[3]
Description
editThe night sky nudibranch grows to between 10 and 20 mm in total length. It is a slender, pale-bodied nudibranch with groups of brown cerata having large white spots running down the length of the body. Its rhinophores are annulate, and there is a pair of elongated oral tentacles with white blotches.[4]
Ecology
editThe food and egg mass of this nudibranch are unknown.
References
edit- ^ MacNae, William. 1954. On some eolidacean nudibranchiate molluscs from South Africa. Archived 2015-12-25 at the Wayback Machine Annals of the Natal Museum 13(1):1-50, pls. 1-2.
- ^ Sartori, André F. (2014). Amanda armata Macnae, 1954. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2015-02-27
- ^ Gosliner, T.M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8
- ^ Zsilavecz, G. 2007. Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay. ISBN 0-620-38054-3