Nudibranchia

Cephalaspidea

Sacoglossa

Anaspidea

Notaspidea

Order : NOTASPIDEA (= Side gilled slug)
  Superfamily : Tylodinoidea
Family : Umbraculidae
Superfamily : Pleurobranchoidea
Family : Pleurobranchidae

The sidegill slugs have a large plume-like gill located between the well developed foot and overlapping mantle, usually on the right side of the body

Medium or large oblong-shaped slugs which have two well developed cylindrical rhinophores on the head and two oral tentacles attached to either side of an oral veil.

The majority of families have an internal shell, others an external shell, and one family has even lost its shell completely

Notaspideans are exclusively carnivorous and utilize strong jaws and a broad radula to scrape tissue from their sponge or tunicate prey.

Photo : Berthellina martensis

cylindrical rhinophore

 

The Pleurobranchidae (de Férussac, 1822)

Head partly concealed by the conspicuous mantle, which forms a skirt all around the body.

The skin is able to secrete strongly acid fluids on disturbance.

InternaI shell calcareous but fragile, usually unpigmented.

Photo : Berthellina sp

shell notaspidea

 


Berthella (de Blainville, 1824)

Body and mantle :

 

 

Photo : B. martensis

Berthella: notaspidea species

 


Berthellina (Gardiner, 1936)

Body and mantle :

 

 

Photo : Berthellina sp

Betrhellina : notaspidea species