Cephalopyge

Cephalopyge
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Nudibranchia
Suborder: Dendronotacea
Family: Phylliroidae
Genus: Cephalopyge
Hanel, 1905
Species:
C. trematoides
Binomial name
Cephalopyge trematoides
(Chun, 1889)
Synonyms

Genus synonymy

  • Bonneviia Pruvot-Fol, 1929
  • Boopsis Pierantoni, 1923
  • Ctilopsis André, 1906
  • Dactylopus Bonnevie, 1921
  • Nectophyllirhoe Hoffmann, 1922

Species synonymy

  • Boopsis mediterranea Pierantoni, 1923
  • Ctilopsis picteti André, 1906
  • Dactylopus michaelsarsii Bonnevie, 1921
  • Phylliroe trematoides Chun, 1889
  • Cephalopyge arabica

Cephalopyge is a genus of pelagic nudibranchs comprising the single species Cephalopyge trematoides, a free-swimming marine gastropod in the family Phylliroidae.

Etymology

Cephalopyge is a contraction of cephalus (Greek: κεφαλή kephale, "head") and pyge (πūγή, "behind") referring to the position of the anus close to the head. The species epithet trematoides expresses a likeness to flukes.

Description

Cephalopyge trematoides grows to 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in length. It swims at approximately 12 cm/s (4.7 in/s), by passing several undulatory waves down its body each second. It is flattened and transparent; its internal organs are visible.

Pelagic nudibranchs

Of the approximately 3000 species of nudibranch, the vast majority are benthic, only a couple are neustonic, and Cephalopyge trematoides is very unusual in that it is pelagic. It is estimated to be one of only five planktonic nudibranch species (another epipelagic example is Phylliroe bucephala).

Further information (including photos):

References

  1. 1 2 "Cephalopyge". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  2. ↑ "Cephalopyge trematoides". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  3. 1 2 Lalli, Carol M.; Gilmer, Ronald W. (1989). Pelagic Snails: The Biology of Holoplanktonic Gastropod Mollusks. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804714907.
  4. ↑ Sea Slugs of Hawaii
  5. ↑ Marine species identification portal: Cephalopyge and Cephalopyge trematoides.
  6. ↑ J.E. Steinberg, The pelagic nudibranch, Cephalopyge trematoides (Chun, 1889), in New South Wales with a note on other species in this genus, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 81:184-192 (1956)
  7. ↑ G.M. Mapstone & M.N. Arai, Siphonophora (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) of Canadian Pacific Waters, p.33. "The best documented predators of pelagic cnidarians from the phylum Mollusca are the neustonic nudibranchs and snails [...and] the pelagic nudibranch [...]"
  8. ↑ Orso Angulo-Campillo, Gerardo Aceves-Medina and Raymundo Avedaño-Ibarra, Holoplanktonic mollusks (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from the Gulf of California, México Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine