Family PLEUROBRANCHIDAE Gray, 1827

Family Pleurobranchidae. Pleurobranchus peronii.(from Beesley, Ross & Wells 1998) [L. Newman]

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Introduction

Soft-bodied oval animals, usually rather flattened, the mantle often smooth but in some larger species covered with many rounded or polygonal tubercles. Basally joined enrolled rhinophores project from under the anterior mantle edge, and over the broad velum with short tentacle-like corners. In some species, the rhinophores are widely separated, the velum rising from between them. A feathery gill is always present along the right body wall between mantle and foot. A thin fragile shell, or the periostracal remains, may be present within a reduced shell cavity above the visceral mass. Pleurobranchs feed on sponges or ascidians, or are omnivorous, devoruing enything within reach. Compiled from Burn (in press).

General References

Beesley, P.L., Ross, G.J.B. & Wells, A. (eds) 1998. Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis. Fauna of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 5(Part B) pp. vi–viii, 565–1234. [979]

Burn, R. 2006. A checklist and bibliography of the Opisthobranchia (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Victoria and the Bass Strait area, south-eastern Australia. Museum Victoria Science Report 10: 1-42

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