Scientific name: Cratena peregrina
(Gmelin, 1791)
Common Name: Cratena peregrina
Depth: Until 30m
Measures: Up to 5cm
How does it look like?
Their body is white coloured and presents 8 to 10 pairs of large purple dorsal papillae (cerata). The cerata's colour can vary between purple, brown and orange because they are a part of the animal's digestive system. That's the reason for it's different colours. The olfactory organs and of orientation (rinophores) are orange coloured. They present a kind of tail.
Where does it live?
They live at the Mediterranean and atlantic coast of Spain, Portugal, Senegal and the Canary Islands.
How does it feed?
They feeds mainly on hydroids of the genus Eudendrium.
How do they reproduce?
All animals have both sexes (hermaphrodites). Usually they reproduce with another individual, sticking their penis, shaped like a needle, through their couples skin. Rarely autoreproduction. Their whitish eggs are placed in form of impellers.
Is a confusion possible?
A confusion is hardly possible.
Curiosities
· The toxins from their food are stored in bags (cnidosacs) at the tip of their cerata
· Synonyms: Hervia costai (Haefelfinger)
Taxonomy
Order: Nudibranchia, Suborder: Aeolidina, Family: Glaucidae
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