top of page
Hairy Spiny Doris
Mollusc
Hairy Spiny Doris
Acanthodoris pilosa (Abildgaard, 1789)
WoRMS AphialID
140626
Sample IDs
HMSC174-https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO007-23; HMSC174-01637 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO318-24; HMSC174-01638 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO319-24
Collected
Minas Basin NS and Grand Manan NB, from intertidal hand collection from a rocky shore with Fucus, and ponar grab samples of pebbles, mud, and sand, 5m depth.
Distinguishing Features
• Head: 1 pair of large, clubbed, rhinophores, with about 18 distal lamellae and an inflated base. The rhinophores are often bent slightly backwards. The oral tentacles are broad and rounded
• Body: oval, usually uniform semitransparent whitish yellow, but the colour can vary to grey or brown. Covered with small, uniform, slender, soft conical papillae, giving a hairy appearance
• Gills: a posterior cluster of 7-9 bi- or tripinnate gills forming a large, spreading, fluffy circle
• Size: to 55 mm
Habitat
Depths of 0-80 m, under rocks at low tide, on hard surfaces with bryozoans (on which they feed almost exclusively).
Geographic Range
Broad distribution across the Northern Hemisphere spanning the North Pacific, Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans. In Atlantic North America, it occurs from the Gulf of St. Lawrence down to Virginia
Fun Fact
These attractive nudibranchs have been likened to a ‘sea bunny’ with their large fluffy gills, soft pointed papillae, and bunny-ear rhinophores. They have a short lifespan of less than one year, and, like many nudibranchs, are hermaphrodites (each individual has both male and female reproductive organs) that exchange sperm. Their eggs are laid in a white, ribbon-like spiral.
Barcode Distribution
Amphi-Atlantic BIN matching specimens from Europe.
bottom of page