Facelina bostoniensis
(Couthouy, 1838)

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Glaucidae

DISTRIBUTION

Throughout western Europe from Norway to the western Mediterranean. Also northeast coast of North America.

PHOTO

UPPER: Millport, Ballachmartin Bay, Isle of Cumbrae, Scotland, May 1993
LOWER: As above, May 1992 PHOTOS: Daniel Geiger.

Facelina bostoniensis grows to about 55mm. In British waters it is reported to feed almost exclusively on species of the hydroid genus Tubularia. Brown (1981) showed that this common European species also occurs on the northeast coast of North America where it was named Facelina bostoniensis, from specimens Couthouy found in Massachusetts about 5 years before Alder & Hancock (1843) described it from England as Eolis curta. It is not often that animals found on both sides of the Atlantic have a name with an American connection. Usually, species common to both coasts were named by European workers long before they were studied in North America.

Reference:
• Thompson, T.E. & Brown, G.H. (1984) Biology of Opisthobranch Molluscs, Vol 2. Ray Society: London.

See Betsey Hansen's photos of North American specimens below.
See Jussi Evertsen's message reporting it feeding on the sea pen Virgularia mirabilis

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (August 7) Facelina bostoniensis (Couthouy, 1838). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/facebost

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