Tochuina nigritigris

Description

General: Body elongate, narrow. Notum outline with four invaginations; edge has a ruffled appearance. Dorsum covered with numerous, densely packed elongate tubercles or projections, oriented in different directions, forming a zigzagging pattern in some areas. Velum wide, forming two triangular lateral projections, with several frontal irregular indentations. Rhinophores short and wide, with 9 simple lamellae, located on anterior end of notum. Rhinophoral sheaths elongate, with 12 branched papillae around distal edges. Foot smooth, rounded posteriorly, visible dorsally at posterior end and in notum invaginations. Background color of notum black. Dorsal tubercles primarily white to greyish-brown near posterior notum, giving the body a light appearance, becoming darker towards head, turning completely black on anterior notum; this gives a black and white appearance with a greyish transitional area mid-length, forming a wedge of black pigment. Notum edge primarily white, except for anterior-most end that becomes dark grey. Velum completely black. Rhinophoral sheaths black with grey edges. Rhinophores with black stalks and beige sheath papillae and clubs. Foot dark grey, surrounded by a thin white line.

Size: 82 mm (preserved)

Geographic Information

Published depth range: 1733 m

Habitat description: Benthic, hard substrate.

Ocean range (global): Guide Seamount.

Additional Information

References

Encyclopedia of Life

Tree of Life

World Register of Marine Species

National Center for Biotechnology Information

Valdés, A., L. Lundsten, and N.G. Wilson (2018). Five new deep-sea species of nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Cladobranchia) from the Northeast Pacific. Zootaxa 4526 (4): 401–433.

Korshunova T, Martynov A. (2020). Consolidated data on the phylogeny and evolution of the family Tritoniidae (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) contribute to genera reassessment and clarify the taxonomic status of the neuroscience models Tritonia and Tochuina. PLoS ONE 15(11): e0242103. https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0242103