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Johnston's balloon eolis
Mollusc
Johnston's balloon eolis
Tergipes tergipes (Forsskål, 1775)
WoRMS AphialID
141641
Sample IDs
HMSC174_02206|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO224-24; HMSC174_02207|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO225-24; NSRAS25-134A|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO634-25; NSRAS25-134B|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO635-25; NSRAS25-134C|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO636-25; NSRAS25-134D|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO637-25; NSRAS25-134F|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO639-25; NSRAS25-134G|https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCMO640-25
Collected
Les Escoumins QC, Sambro Harbour NS, from shallow SCUBA collection of hydroids attached to pontoons, 1 m depth, and hand collection of hydroids off dock pilings.
Distinguishing Features
• Head: the oral tentacles are short with rounded tips, while the rhinophores are long, smooth, and tapering. Typically, there are red-brown pigment streaks at the base of the rhinophores.
• Body: slender, elongate, delicate. Translucent white with fine yellowish-brown flecks on dorsum and cerata. The brownish digestive gland characteristically zig-zags between the bases of the alternately arranged cerata and each branch leads to only a single ceras. There is a single row of relatively large, curved, club-shaped cerata, typically 4-5 per side. They may have a red-brown pigment band below the white cnidosacs at the tip.
• Size: small, 5-8 mm.
Habitat
Intertidal to shallow subtidal (20 m) on hydroids, typically Obelia or Laomedea on kelp, piers and man-made structures.
Geographic Range
Amphi-Atlantic distribution, common in Europe and along the North American Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to New Jersey.
Fun Fact
This tiny aeolid nudibranch has a distinctive gait, creeping along hydroid stems in a jerky fashion. Their zig-zag digestive gland serves as camouflage on the hydroid stems, making them nearly invisible to predators. They have a quick life cycle, with eggs hatching in just five days and larvae reaching maturity just five weeks after hatching. For the larvae to successfully settle and transform into juvenile sea slugs, they must find a chemical cue from a preferred hydroid prey, such as Obelia.
Barcode Distribution
Amphi-Atlantic BIN matching specimens from Europe.
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