| Ziminella salmonacea | |
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| Scientific classification | |
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| (unranked): | cladeHeterobranchia cladeEuthyneura |
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| Species: | Z. salmonacea |
| Binomial name | |
| Ziminella salmonacea | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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Ziminella salmonacea,common name thesalmon aeolis, is aspecies ofsea slug, an aeolidnudibranch, amarinegastropodmollusc in the familyParacoryphellidae.[2]
This species occurs in the Arctic seas; (Greenland,Iceland,Spitsbergen, North Pacific (Bering Strait,Point Barrow, Alaska,British Columbia), the Western Atlantic (Cape Cod (Mass.) north toHalifax (Nova Scotia)) and the Eastern Atlantic and northern European waters (north coast ofNorway).
The white, translucent, broad body of this species reaches a length between 25 and 50 mm, and ends in a thin, tapered tail. Thecerata are swollen with a thin orange or pink digestive gland duct. There are opaque white markings at the tips of the cerata and on the outer parts of the rhinophores and oral tentacles. An orange color variation may occur, caused by a diet ofanemones rather thanascidians. This was previously considered to be a distinct species,Coryphella stimpsoni.[3] The maximum recorded length is 50 mm.
These sea slugs can be found consuming the colonialtunicateAmaroucium constellatum Verrill, 1871 which is an unusual diet for an aeolid nudibranch. Juveniles have been found feeding onhydroids, especiallyTubularia.[4] The salmon aeolis, like other nudibranchs, is a simultaneoushermaphrodite with reciprocal mating and sperm storage. They lay their eggs in a long, twisted, gelatinous mass.