Cratena peregrina, commonly called the pilgrim hervia, is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.[1]
| Cratena peregrina | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Nudibranchia |
| Suborder: | Cladobranchia |
| Family: | Facelinidae |
| Genus: | Cratena |
| Species: | C. peregrina
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| Binomial name | |
| Cratena peregrina (Gmelin, 1791)
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| Synonyms | |
|
Cuthona peregrina (Gmelin, 1791) | |
Description
editThe pilgrim hervia is an aeolid sea slug, its average size is between 3 and 5 cm.[2] The body is thin and slender, with a long sharply pointed tail. Its body coloration is milky white with 8 to 10 clusters of dorsal cerata which can be bright red, purple, brown or blue, with the tips coloured in luminescent blue. Those cerata act like gills, and each one contains a terminal outgrowth of the digestive gland, a diverticulum.
The head, which is the same colour as the body, has a pair of bright orange rhinophores, and with two whitish long buccal tentacles, which look like horns.
Distribution and habitat
editThis species occurs in the Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the Channel south to Senegal.[3] This sea slug prefers to live on rocky bottoms and slopes in clear and well-oxygenated water, between 5 and 50 m in depth.[3]
Biology
editThe pilgrim hervia feeds on hydroids in the genus Eudendrium.[2]
References
edit- ^ Gofas, S. (2014). Cratena peregrina (Gmelin, 1791). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=146862 on 2014-09-10
- ^ a b "The Sea Slug Forum - Cratena peregrina". 15 July 2010.
- ^ a b "Cratena peregrina | DORIS".
External links
edit
- Photos of Cratena peregrina on Sealife Collection
- Photo study of the Cratena peregrina