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Common Grey Sea Slug
Mollusc
Common Grey Sea Slug
Aeolidia papillosa (Linnaeus, 1761)
WoRMS AphialID
138709
Sample IDs
HMSC174_01057 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO122-24; NSRAS25-018 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO641-25
Collected
Les Escoumins QC and Tiverton NS, from floating pontoons among Metridium and SCUBA hand collection from rocky subtidal, 18m depth.
Distinguishing Features
• Head: 1 pair of white-tipped oral tentacles, rhinophores smooth or slightly wrinkled. Both are tapering with thick bases. There is a characteristic white V-shaped pattern on the head from one oral tentacle to the other.
• Body: broad, ovate, narrowing abruptly posteriorly. The colour varies from pale buff grey to brown with yellow flecks. Numerous cerata (to 400 per side) cover the body in transverse rows except for a mid-dorsal bare triangular area.
• Gills: a posterior cluster of 7-9 bi- or tripinnate gills forming a large, spreading, fluffy circle.
• Size: large, to 120 mm.
Habitat
Depths of 0-380 m, typically in cold, shallow water or in rock pools or dock pilings among algae, hydroids, and anemones.
Geographic Range
Broad distribution across the Northern Hemisphere spanning the North Pacific and both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In Atlantic North America, it occurs from the Gulf of St. Lawrence down to Connecticut.
Fun Fact
This large shaggy nudibranch can be found associated with sea anemones, such as the common plumose anemone, Metridium senile. They consume large amounts of tissue and store the anemone’s stinging cells (nematocysts) in their own cerata for defense against predators. They lie their eggs in large, white ribbons coiled in a spiral, containing thousands of eggs.
Barcode Distribution
Widespread BIN spanning North Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America to Europe.
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