Biodiversity & Conservation

Orange-clubbed sea slug - Limacia clavigera

Limacia clavigera

Image Jim Anderson - Limacia clavigera. Image width ca 2 cm.
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Distribution map

Limacia clavigera recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Limacia clavigera is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Mollusca Snails, slugs, mussels, cockles, clams & squid
Class Gastropoda Snails, slugs & sea butterflies
Authority (O F Müller, 1776)
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Distributed all around the British Isles except the extreme south east.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Limacia clavigera can be found on encrusting bryozoans in the shallow sublittoral down to depths of 80 m.
Text page icon Description Limacia clavigera is white in colour with yellow-orange tipped processes (outgrowths) and can grow up to 2 cm in length. The front processes have a rough texture with feathery ends and are held horizontally, whereas the processes at the sides of the body are smooth and normally curved over its back. Slightly raised orange spots can be found on the slugs back. Two sensory tentacles (rhizophores) can be found on the back of the slugs head, that are tipped with yellow. Three feather-like gills are situated towards the rear of the slug on its back, which also have yellow-orange tips.
Identifying features
  • Long, yellow or orange tipped outgrowths all around the edge of the mantle.
  • Three small feather-like gills.
Additional information icon Additional information Can be found feeding on sea mats (Bryozoa), preferentially on Electra pilosa.

This review can be cited as follows:

Rose Edwards 2008. Limacia clavigera. Orange-clubbed sea slug. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 22/05/2012]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=3673>