Okenia mexicorum
Gosliner and Bertsch, 2004

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DORIDINA
Superfamily: ANADORIDOIDEA
Family: Goniodorididae

DISTRIBUTION

This species is known along the Mexican coast from Baja California Sur to Bahía de Banderas, Jalisco.

PHOTO

Upper: Bahía de Banderas, Jalisco, México. Photo: Alicia Hermosillo. Lower: SEM of radula showing teeth on right side. Scale = 10 µm. [Photos from Gosliner & Bertsch, 2004 with permission].

The animal is relatively small and elongate with a well-developed mantle edge bearing eight to ten lateral papillae on each side. The posterior two papillae on each side are longer than the rest; they do not share a common base.  There is a long, elevated medial ridge from between the rhinophores to the gills. Arising from this ridge, just in front of the gills is a single, elongate medial papilla. The body is translucent with an opaque white patch covering most of the dorsal surface of the mantle and posterior foot. The mantle edge and all the papillae are red, although the tips of some papillae may have some white pigmentation. There are red patches along the sides of the body. The rhinophores and 7-9 gills are translucent straw coloured, the gills having some red mottling. The living animals are small, 5-8 mm in length. Nothing is known of its biology

  • Gosliner, T. M. & Bertsch, H. (2004) Systematics of Okenia from the Pacific Coast of North America (Nudibranchia: Goniodorididae) with descriptions of three new species. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 55: 412-428, figs. 1-11.
Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2004 (December 21) Okenia mexicorum Gosliner and Bertsch, 2004. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/okenmexi