Tergipes tergipes is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Tergipedidae.Gofas, S. (2014). Tergipes tergipes (Forsskål in Niebuhr, 1775). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2020-12-20
Distribution This species was described from Øresund, Denmark. It has been reported from the NE Atlantic from Iceland and Norway south to Portugal and in the Mediterranean Sea.Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C., 2010. Tergipes tergipes (Forsskål in Niebuhr, 1775). [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland. Reports of the same species from Brazil should be treated with caution.Rudman, W.B., 2000 (December 31). Tergipes tergipes (Forsskal, 1775). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
Description The typical adult size of this species is 5–8 mm.Thompson, T.E. and Brown, G.H., 1984. Biology of Opisthobranch Molluscs, Volume II. The Ray Society. 229 pages 41 plates, 40 figures A recent study showed that Tergipes tergipes is an amphi-atlantic species.Cámara, S., Carmona, L., Cella, K., Ekimova, I., Martynov, A., & Cervera, J. L., (2014). Tergipes tergipes (Förskal, 1775) (Gastropoda: Nudibranchia) is an amphiatlantic species. Journal of Molluscan Studies (2014) 80: 642–646. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyu015
Habitat Minimum recorded depth is 4 m. Maximum recorded depth is 10 m.Welch J. J. (2010). "The “Island Rule” and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
Tergipes tergipes feeds on hydroids of the genus Obelia, especially Obelia geniculata. It is very similar in size and spawn shape to Eubranchus exiguus which often occurs on the same blades of kelp.
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