Biodiversity & Conservation

A sea slug - Pleurobranchus membranaceus

Pleurobranchus membranaceus

Image Mike Markey - Pleurobranchus membranaceus at Lyme Bay. Image width ca 10 cm.
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Distribution map

Pleurobranchus membranaceus 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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Pleurobranchus membranaceus 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 (Montagu, 1815)
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland Recorded from various locations around Britain and Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found on the rocky intertidal and sublittoral in association with its prey, the sea squirts Ascidia mentula, Ascidiella aspersa and Botryllus schlosseri.
Text page icon Description Pleurobranchus membranaceus is a large, round sea slug up to 12 cm in length. The body consists of the brown mantle, which is covered in short fleshy projections known as tubercles, and a white foot, which forms a 'skirt' around the mantle. The front end bears obvious tentacles the outer oral tentacles and the rhinophores between them. The rhinophores consist of rolled extensions of tissue.
Identifying features
  • Brown body, up to 12 cm in length.
  • Dorsal surface bears tubercles.
  • Posterior edge of mantle lobed to form an exhalant siphon.
  • Two pairs of tentacles; oral tentacles, and the dorsal rhinophores that are longitudinally rolled.
Additional information icon Additional information Pleurobranchus membranaceus may be seen swimming by turning onto its back and flapping the foot like wings.

This review can be cited as follows:

Ken Neal 2005. Pleurobranchus membranaceus. A sea slug. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 23/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=4142>