Fiona pinnata

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fiona pinnata

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Orthogastropoda
Superorder:	Heterobranchia
Order:	Opisthobranchia
Suborder:	Nudibranchia
Superfamily:	Aeolidioidea
Family:	Fionidae Gray, 1857
Genus:	Fiona Alder & Hancock, 1851
Species:	F. pinnata

Binomial name

Fiona pinnata
(Eschscholtz, 1831)

Synonyms

Limax marinus Förskal, 1775
Eolidia pinnata Eschscholtz, 1831
Eolidia longicauda Quoy and Gaimard, 1832
Oithona nobilis Alder and Hancock, 1851
Aeolis plicata Hutton, 1882
Fiona marina Suter, 1913
Fiona pinnata Iredale and O'Donoghue, 1923

Fiona pinnata is a species of small sea slug, specifically a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk.

The anatomy of this species is very unusual, and it does not appear to have any living close relatives. It is the only member of the genus Fiona (a monotypic genus), and the genus Fiona is in turn the only genus in the family Fionidae (a monotypic family).

1 Distribution
2 Habitat
3 Description
4 Life habits
5 References

[edit] Distribution

This is a wide ranging pelagic species, found world-wide, but only on floating objects.

[edit] Habitat

It is found living on the surfaces of drifting kelp, wood and other floating materials. (Unlike most pelagic animals it cannot swim or float by itself.)

[edit] Description

The body is elongate-ovate, arched above. The rhinophores are simple, not retractile, and the cerata are arranged in close transverse rows on the back. The radula consists of a single row of teeth, each with a strongly arched base, and bearing one large long cusp, flanked by six or seven lesser cusps on either side.

The coloration of the head, neck and body is white, with the cerata dark brown, each margined with white.

The length of this nudibranch is up to about 20 mm.