Scientific name: Caloria elegans
(Alder & Hancock, 1845)
Common Name:
Depth: Up to 50m
Measures: Up to 30mm
How does it look like?
Basic milky-white coloration, but can present a wide variation of color, depending on its diet (white, yellow, orange, red till brown). Tips of the dorsal appendices (cerata) black coloured. Olfactory organs and orientation organs (rinophores) without lamels.
Where does it live?
They live at the western Mediterranean, the eastern Atlantic to the British Isles, Madeira and the Azores. There are cases at the Aegian Sea and Turkey. Usually in warmer waters.
How does it feed?
Thwy feed on small polyps of Perigonismus gender, but it also has been observed feeding on Nemertesia ramosa, Plumularia setacea and Halecium halecinum.
How does it reproduce?
All animals have both sexes (hermaphrodites). Usually they reproduce with another individual, sticking a penis-shaped needle through their partners skin. Rarely selfreproduction. Nudibranchios typically lay their eggs in a gelatinous spiral.
Is a confusion possible?
It's said that a confusion with another species is not possible, due to their characteristic colour.
Curiosities
· They store the stinging capsules (cnidocysts) of the polyps they eat in their dorsal appendices (cerata) to defend from potential predators
· In the etymology elegans means elegant
Taxonomy
Order: Nudibranchia, Suborder: Aeolidina, Family: Glaucidae
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