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Bushy-backed Nudibranch
Mollusc
Bushy-backed Nudibranch
Dendronotus frondosus (Ascanius, 1774)
WoRMS AphialID
139523
Sample IDs
HMSC174-00821|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO088-23; HMSC174_00998|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO117-24;
HMSC174_01013|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO118-24; HMSC174_01284|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO136-24; HMSC174_01285|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO137-24;
HMSC174_01751|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO162-24; HMSC174_02756|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO493-25; HMSC174-02650|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO546-25
Collected
Welch Cove NB, Les Escoumins QC, Saguenay Fjord QC, and Natuashish NL,
from SCUBA hand collection of seaweeds, hydroids, and bryozoans, 17-25 m depth.
Distinguishing Features
• Head: the rhinophores extend forward, clubbed with a tall basal sheath and 5-6 branches interspersed with smaller appendages.
• Body: laterally compressed, elongate, tapering posteriorly with a narrow foot. The colour is variable, but typically whitish marbled with brown, red, orange, and purple, often with scattered white star-like pigment spots. The tree-like cerata are two rows of 5-9 pairs, branching up from a raised surface. The branches usually have secondary and tertiary branching.
• Size: to 80 mm.
Habitat
Intertidal to 672 m, in tidepools, on rocky bottoms, among algae and hydroids.
Geographic Range
Widespread in cold-temperate waters from the North Pacific, across the North Atlantic and into the Arctic. D.frondosus is difficult to distinguish from other Dendronotus species and is likely a species complex.
Fun Fact
Like other nudibranchs, D.frondosus feeds on hydroids and incorporates their stinging cells into their cerata tissue for defense against predators. This hardy slug is well adapted to life in Atlantic Canada and can withstand below freezing temperatures in the rocky intertidal zone.
Barcode Distribution
Widespread BIN matching specimens from British Columbia and Europe.
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