Rostanga crawfordi is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Discodorididae. Originally described as Discodoris crawfordi, it was redescribed by Rudman & Avern as Rostanga australis. The two names were synonymised by Dayrat.[3] It was named after Tom Crawford, an Australian malacologist who compiled an extensive collection of Opisthobranchia prior to his death in 1966 at the age of 22.[4]
| Rostanga crawfordi | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Nudibranchia |
| Family: | Discodorididae |
| Genus: | Rostanga |
| Species: | R. crawfordi |
| Binomial name | |
| Rostanga crawfordi | |
| Synonyms | |
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Distribution
editThis species was described from Port Phillip, Victoria, Australia. It is known only from Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, Australia.[3]
Description
editThis dorid nudibranch is pale orange-yellow to orange-pink in colour; the dorsum is covered with caryophyllidia.[2][5]
Ecology
editRostanga crawfordi is found on the red sponge, Psammoclema, on which it presumably feeds.[2] This sponge genus is currently classified in the family Chondropsidae. Most other species of Rostanga feed on sponges of the family Microcionidae.
References
edit- ↑ Burn, R.F. (1969). "A memorial report on the Tom Crawford collection of Victorian Opisthobranchia". Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia. 12: 64–106.
- 1 2 3 Rudman, W.B. & Avern, G.J. (1989) The genus Rostanga Bergh, 1879 (Nudibranchia:Dorididae) in the Indo-West Pacific. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 96: 281-338.
- 1 2 Dayrat B. 2010. A monographic revision of discodorid sea slugs (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia, Nudibranchia, Doridina). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Series 4, vol. 61, suppl. I, 1-403, 382 figs.
- ↑ Burn 1969, p. 64.
- ↑ Rudman, W.B., 2002 (February 4) Rostanga australis Rudman & Avern, 1989. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.