Caracol burbuja verde
Oxynoe olivacea
37.7761, -0.753121
Field Notes
Description:
Oxynoe olivacea is a species of small green bubble snail or sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Oxynoidae.
Despite a superficial resemblance, this is not a nudibranch, it is a sacoglossan, and like other Oxynoe species, it has a small, fragile, bubble-shaped shell.
The body is elongated, swollen in front and in the middle, with a long and narrow tail. The upper color is light green, the edges of the foot and pleuropodial lobes and the ends of the tentacles are bordered by alternating pale red and bluish-black spots. The sole is yellowish.
The shell is external, thin, fragile, translucent and shiny, convoluted and globose. The opening is very large, angled at the top, rounded at the bottom.
The height of the case is 12 mm and the width is 9 mm.
Habitat:
The Mar Menor is the largest salty coastal lagoon in Europe. It was eating the leaf of an algae on the sandy bottom of this lagoon.
They are herbivorous and green in color, like the algae they feed on: hare's ear (Caulerpa prolifera). The abundance of this marine plant in the Mar Menor is the reason why these mollusks are found here.
Notes:
This species is found in the Mediterranean Sea. The type locality for this species is Sicily, Italy.
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