Gastropods · Nudibranchia · Facelinidae

Slender Facelina

Facelina auriculata

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

Facelina auriculata is a species similar to Cratena peregrina in general body shape and size. It is told apart from it because the rhinophores are lamellate, with the lamellae arranged in rings. The upper part of the antenna is white and the numerous dorsal projections are dark brown, with a longitudinal white stripe. The body is almost colourless, with blue reflections and a fine white line down the middle of the back.

Size

up to 3.8 cm

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

OceanCarnivore Solitary Ocean Mollusc

14countries 35parks

Fun facts

It digests hydroids without setting off their stinging cells and moves them intact to the tips of its cerata, where it uses them for its own defence.
The ringed rhinophores on its head serve to track its prey by chemical scent.
It steals its prey's weapons. It eats hydrozoans and, instead of digesting their stinging cells, keeps them intact and moves them into sacs called cnidosacs, at the tips of the cerata on its back.
From there it can fire them again at an attacker as though they were its own. The phenomenon is known as kleptocnidae.
To collect them without poisoning itself, the front part of its gut is lined with chitin, which deflects the stings.
The cerata are not just an armoury: they also serve for breathing, taking up oxygen across their surface.
It has been suggested that some nudibranchs eat hydrozoans precisely to keep their cnidosacs loaded, rather than for food.