Family
Gastropterid sea slugs
Gastropteridae
- Species in the gallery
- 3
- Genera
- 2
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Description
Gastropteridae is a family of small headshield sea slugs in the order Cephalaspidea (superfamily Philinoidea), not nudibranchs. WoRMS recognises five genera: Gastropteron, Siphopteron, Sagaminopteron, Enotepteron and Africanopteron. They occur in temperate and tropical seas worldwide, including Gastropteron rubrum in the Mediterranean, and are especially diverse in the Indo-West Pacific. Most are only a few millimetres to about 2 cm long and can swim by flapping their wing-like parapodia; Sagaminopteron species live and feed on sponges.
Identification
Gastropterids have a short body with a head shield in front and broad, wing-like parapodia that are folded over the back at rest and flapped when swimming, giving them the nickname 'bat-winged slugs'. The shell is small and internal, and many Siphopteron species have a whip-like flagellum projecting from the rear. They lack the rhinophores and gill plumes of nudibranchs, and their wide parapodial wings distinguish them from other small headshield slugs such as Aglajidae.
Genera
3 species
Sources (3)
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/family/Gastropteridae/