Clione limacina

Photograph taken by Vidar Aas taken in Norway

Photo Information

Photographer
Vidar Aas
Location
Norway
Species name
Clione limacina
Verified by
"This is a marvellous photo of this permanently planktonic opisthobranch belonging to the order Gymnosomata. It’s common name is a sea goddess. It would be invisible in the water were it not for the bright orange-red colour of the structures inside the head, the digestive gland and pigment cap at the tip of the body cone. Within the large head are stored six extensible tentacles and two bundles of feeding hooks. Clione feeds selectively on thecomomes (sea butterflies), particularly those belonging to the genus Limacina. This explains the origin of the specific name “limacina”. Gymnosomes are, as Professor John Morton said in his book Molluscs “a law unto themselves” with an entirely different body plan to all other opisthobranchs. They are active predators. Because there are vast swarms of sea butterflies in the ocean, gymnosomes have become very specialised. As Dr J. Sherman Bleakney remarked in 1996: “In a way Clione limacina has it made, but how much time must it spend glancing over its shoulder on the lookout a competing specialist – a baleen whale?”"
Comment from Richard Willan
This is a marvellous photo of this permanently planktonic opisthobranch belonging to the order Gymnosomata. It’s common name is a sea goddess. It would be invisible in the water were it not for the bright orange-red colour of the structures inside the head, the digestive gland and pigment cap at the tip of the body cone. Within the large head are stored six extensible tentacles and two bundles of feeding hooks. Clione feeds selectively on thecomomes (sea butterflies), particularly those belonging to the genus Limacina. This explains the origin of the specific name “limacina”. Gymnosomes are, as Professor John Morton said in his book Molluscs “a law unto themselves” with an entirely different body plan to all other opisthobranchs. They are active predators. Because there are vast swarms of sea butterflies in the ocean, gymnosomes have become very specialised. As Dr J. Sherman Bleakney remarked in 1996: “In a way Clione limacina has it made, but how much time must it spend glancing over its shoulder on the lookout a competing specialist – a baleen whale?”
Taken on
1 March 2011 03:24:24 am
Posted
14 years ago
Updated
4 months ago

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EXIF Information

Camera
Unknown Unknown
Date and Time
2011:01:29 03:24:24
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Focal Length
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Scientific Classification

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumMollusca
ClassGastropoda
OrderGymnosomata
FamilyClionidae
SpeciesClione limacina