Radula of Okenia mellita

December 21, 2004
From: Bill Rudman

To accompany the Fact Sheet on Okenia mellita here are some SEM photos of the radular teeth. The radular formula is  30(+1) x 1.1.0.1.1  The innermost tooth has a broad base and a long elongate pointed cusp with many (30+) small, pointed denticles along the cutting edge.  The much smaller outer teeth have a broad quadrangular base with a small recurved cusp which is folded under in the accompanying SEM photo.  In general, the inner teeth and the jaw elements appear to be strongly chitinised. If morphology is a guide to function, I would suspect that this species feeds on a bryozoan with a calcified skeleton.

PHOTOS: Scanning electron micrographs of radula. A, Section of whole radula. B, Inner left radular teeth to show fine denticulation along cutting edge of tooth. Montague Is., New South Wales, Australia, 28 December 1977, AM C108509. Scale bar = 10 µm. Photo: G. Avern.

Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Dec 21) Radula of Okenia mellita. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12641

Factsheet

Okenia mellita

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