Cuthona viridis
(Forbes, 1840)
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Tergipedidae
DISTRIBUTION
Circum-boreal. Nth Atlantic [Known from Roscoff in France and the British Isles, north to Iceland and west Greenland. East coast of North America]. North Pacific [Alaska, Canada, Russia].
PHOTO
UPPER: Folly Cove, Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA. 10 to 12 meters, Length: 12-14 millimeters. Photo: Alan Shepard.
LOWER: Sound of Mull, Scotland, April 1977. Photo: B.E. Picton.
Body semi-translucent white. Opaque white pigment scattered on rhinophores and oral tentacles, usually more concentrated at the tips. There are also white streaks and specks on the dorsal side of the cerata and the large yellowish white cnidosac at the tip of the cerata gives it a yellowish white cap. The digestive gland duct is green with some black specks. Grows to about 15mm in length. In British Isles it is reported to feed on the hydroids Sertularella spp, especially Sertularella rugosa.
i>Cuthona viridis (from New Zealand), C. albocrustata (west coast Nth America) and C. signifera (Japan) were considered by Thompson & Brown (1984) to be possible synonyms of this species.
References:
• Bleakney, J.S., 1996 Sea Slugs of Atlantic Canada and the Gulf of Maine
• Millen, S. V. 1989. Opisthobranch range extension in Alaska with the first records of Cuthona viridis (Forbes, 1840) from the Pacific. The Veliger, 32(1): 64-68.
• Roginskaya, I.S. 2000. Notes on Trinchesia viridis (Forbes, 1840) and its veligers. Opisthobranch Newsletter, 26(3): 13.
• Thompson, T.E. & Brown, G.H. 1984. Biology of Opisthobranch Molluscs, Volume II
Rudman, W.B., 2002 (June 12) Cuthona viridis (Forbes, 1840) . [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/cuthviri
Related messages
Cuthona viridis? from Japan.
July 24, 2007
From: Yasuhiro Shamoto
Hello, Dr. Rudman
I have found this animal at Echizen coast, Fukui Pref., Japan.
I think this is Cuthona viridis. I would be grateful for any comment.
Locality: Echizen-coast, Fukui-Pref, 5 m, Japan, Japan Sea, 27 April 2007, on the stone. Length: approx 10 mm. Photographer: Yasuhiro Shamoto.
Yours sincerely
Yasuhiro Shamoto
yasunao515@cyber.ocn.ne.jp
Yasuhiro Shamoto, 2007 (Jul 24) Cuthona viridis? from Japan.. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20159
Dear Yasu,
This certainly looks like Cuthona viridis and it has been reported from the northern Pacific as well as the nthn Atlantic. There is still some confusion concerning a number of species with green cerata, including Cuthona scintillans Miller 1977, Cuthona viridis Forbes 1840, Cuthona signifera Baba 1961 and Cuthona albocrusta MacFarland 1966.
I think you are probably right to call this C. viridis but I suspect there is still some work to be done with this group.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Cuthona viridis from Eastport, Maine, USA
September 4, 2003
From: Alan Shepard
Bill,
Here is a photo of Cuthona viridis from Eastport, Maine [Atlantic coast, USA]. The specimen was found in approximately 7m of water in an area of high current. It was approximately 15mm long.
This particular dive site has turned out to have a treasure trove of nudibranchs. I found fifteen different species this year. This may not sound like a big number to those that look for nudibranchs in Pacific or other more prolific waters but for New England it's pretty amazing.
Best wishes,
Alan Shepard
Tolland, CT, USA
alan.chepard@snet.net
Shepard, A., 2003 (Sep 4) Cuthona viridis from Eastport, Maine, USA. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10898Dear Alan,
Thanks for sharing these finds with us. It is suprisingly difficult to find many published illustrations of the east coast USA opisthobranch fauna so your continuing contributions are very valuable
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Re: Cuthona viridis from Massachusetts
June 22, 2002
From: Dave Behrens
Dear Bill:
I do not see any mention of Cuthona viridis in the North Pacific in the Forum's discussions. C. viridis is a common component of the nudibranch fauna in the British Columbia area. Millen (1989) reported it from Ketchikan Alaska to Galiano Island, British Columbia. The range of this species is extended south to Bremerton, Washington (Andy Lamb, pers. comm.). Roginskaya (2000) reports that C. viridis is the most common nudibranch in the intertidal zone of the Murman coast of the Barents Sea, in summer. Roginskaya also gives a detailed account of this species reproductive biology and development.
References:
• Millen, S. V. 1989. Opisthobranch range extension in Alaska with the first records of Cuthona viridis (Forbes, 1840) from the Pacific. The Veliger, 32(1): 64-68.
• Roginskaya, I.S. 2000. Notes on Trinchesia viridis (Forbes, 1840) and its veligers. Opisthobranch Newsletter, 26(3): 13.
Thanks,
Dave
dave@seachallengers.com
Behrens, D., 2002 (Jun 22) Re: Cuthona viridis from Massachusetts. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7333Thanks Dave,
Perhaps Marli can keep a look out for it in British Columbia for us.
Cheers,
Bill Rudman
Cuthona viridis from Massachusetts
June 21, 2002
From: Paul Young
My wife and I were recently diving at Back Beach in Rockport, Massachusetts. We found this critter in about 15' of water, on the same dive as the Doto. It was at approximately the same depth, in the same area. It is maybe 15mm long. We think it is a Coryphella. Photo by Paul Young
Paul
young@underwater.org
Young, P. , 2002 (Jun 21) Cuthona viridis from Massachusetts. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7289Dear Paul,
This is Cuthona viridis which Alan Shepard has recently reported from Massachusetts. It has one of those cold temperate distributions like Flabellina verrucosa - the East coast of the USA, Greenland and the Arctic, and northeast Europe. The pigment in the digestive gland is normally more green than in this photograph, but the white splashes on the cerata are exactly right, as are the number and proportions of the cerata and the rhinophores and oral tentacles. I have also sent some photos of this species from the NE Atlantic for comparison.
best wishes,
Bernard Picton
bernard.picton.um@nics.gov.uk
Cuthona viridis from NE Atlantic
June 21, 2002
From: Bernard Picton
Hi Bill,
Here are a couple of scans of Cuthona viridis to accompany Paul Young's and Alan Shepard's photos from Massachusetts.
UPPER: - Faeroe Islands - July 1980 - a well-marked individual
LOWER: - Sound of Mull, Scotland - April 1977
In my experience Cuthona viridis is much commoner in the northern part of the British Isles where it usually feeds on the hydroid Sertularella rugosa, but it does feed on other species of Sertularella as well.
Bernard
bernard.picton.um@nics.gov.uk
Picton, B. , 2002 (Jun 21) Cuthona viridis from NE Atlantic. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7319Thanks Bernard,
Bill Rudman
Cuthona viridis from Massachusetts
June 14, 2002
From: Alan Shepard
Dear Dr. Rudman -
I've attached a photo I took recently at Folly Cove in Gloucester, Massachusetts of Cuthona viridis. I dive this cove very frequently and although I've found many species of nudibranchs over the years it is the first time I've found Cuthona viridis. I sent the photo to Dr. Larry Harris at the University of New Hampshire and he verified the ID and noted that it is an uncommon find in our area but if you look hard enough it will turn up. Anyway this one was in about 10 to 12 meters of water and was about 12 to 14 millimeters long.
Sincerely,
Alan Shepard
alan.chepard@snet.net
Shepard, A., 2002 (Jun 14) Cuthona viridis from Massachusetts. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7169Thanks Alan,
I see Sherman Bleakney (1996) records this from Nova Scotia, which is the first time it had been reported from the east coast of North America.
Bill Rudman
