Pleurobranchaea tarda
{{Short description|Species of gastropod}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Pleurobranchaea_tarda_july08.jpg
| image_caption =
| taxon = Pleurobranchaea tarda
| authority = Verrill, 1880
}}
Pleurobranchaea tarda, the dwarf warty pleurobranch, is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurobranchaeidae.Rosenberg, G. (2015). Pleurobranchaea tarda. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=160478 on 2015-10-20
Distribution
This species is found on the Atlantic coast of North America and West Africa, as well as off the South African coast, from the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula to KnysnaGosliner, T. M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa {{ISBN|0-930118-13-8}} intertidally to 60 m.Zsilavecz, G. 2007. Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay. {{ISBN|0-620-38054-3}}
Description
Pleurobranchaea tarda has an oval sandy-coloured body with a spade-shaped head and two widely separated rolled rhinophores. It has a single gill on the right hand side of its body and can grow to be 70 mm long. It may be confused with Pleurobranchaea bubala, which is bigger and has a rougher surface, but tends to live in shallower water.Gosliner, T. M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa {{ISBN|0-930118-13-8}}
Ecology
It is an enthusiastic predator on other opisthobranchs; and has even been seen eating smaller individuals of the same species. Its egg ribbon forms a sizeable roll of several white loops.Gosliner, T. M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa {{ISBN|0-930118-13-8}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- Abbott R. T. (1974) American seashells. The marine mollusca of the Atlantic and Pacific coast of North America. ed. 2. Van Nostrand, New York. 663 pp., 24 pls
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3142510}}