Dendronotus frondosus

Overview

Scientific Name: Dendronotus frondosus

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Gastropoda

Order: Nudibranchia

Family: Dendronotidae

Genus: Dendronotus

Species:

frondosus [According to Ekimova et al. 2015, D. f. is not distributed over Japan and the Pacific coast of North America but is northern European species. There is no information that what species that has been considered as D. f. in Japan it is.] [Describe here as A. iricolor]

Native Distribution

Origin Realm:

Arctic, Temperate Northern Atlantic, Temperate Northern Pacific

Native Region:

Origin Location:

Temperate Northern Pacific Bowie Seamount, NE Pacific Ocean (Mcdaniel et al. 2003) STATUS NOT STATED California (Williams 1974, cited in Watt & Aiken 2003) STATUS NOT STATED Temperate Northern Atlantic Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada (Aiken 2003) STATUS NOT STATED Western Atlantic range: New Brunswick south to New Jersey (Loveland et al., 1969; Franz, 1970; Meyer, 1974; Clark, 1975; Carlo, 1977, cited in Aiken 2003) STATUS NOT STATED Cape Neddick, York, Maine (Lambert 1991) STATUS NOT STATED Europe (Aerts 1994, cited in Aiken 2003) STATUS NOT STATED Amphi-Atlantic (north-east Atlantic and north-west Atlantic). (Ekimova et al. 2015) STATUS NOT STATED Gulf of Maine, US. (Sisson 2002, 2005) STATUS NOT STATED The Norwegian coast, Skagerrack, Cattegat, the Sound and Little Belt. In the Baltic as far as Kiel Bay. In many places in the North Sea. East and west coast of Scotland, Orkneys, Shetlands, Fär Öer, Irish Sea, west coast of Ireland, the Channel including Pas de Calais. (Swennen 1961) STATED (native at least in the Netherlands (Swennen 1961)) Arctic White and Barents seas (Ekimova et al. 2015) Greenland, Jan Mayen, Bear Island, Nova Zembla, West and East Siberia (Swennen 1961) STATED (native at least in the Netherlands (Swennen 1961)) Uncertain realm Iceland, Spitzbergen Franz Josefland (Swennen 1961) STATED (native at least in the Netherlands (Swennen 1961))

Geographic Range:

Geographic coverage: -158.300003051758 19.2999992370605,121.800003051758 65.2000045776367 (Ocean Biogeographic Information System 2016) Cosmopolitan in temperate waters of northern hemisphere (Carlton 2007) circumpolar or circumboreal distribution (MacFarland 1966, Clark 1975, Swennen 1961, cited in Aiken 2003) Western Atlantic range: New Brunswick south to New Jersey (Loveland et al., 1969; Franz, 1970; Meyer, 1974; Clark, 1975; Carlo, 1977, cited in Aiken 2003) Barents Sea: 66º02'N, 57º07.1'E (st. UR-22); 69º14.3'N, 57º39.5'E (st. MB-15); 69º14.3'N, 57º39.5'E (st. MB-2). (Ekimova et al. 2015) [Gulf of Maine, US] (Sisson 2002) Cape Neddick in York, Maine: 43º00'N, 70º36'W. The Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire: 44º21'N, 68º03W. Winter Harbor, Maine: 44º53'N, 67º09'W. Eastport, Maine: 44º54'N, 66º59'W. Pembroke, Maine: 44º53'N, 67º09'W. West Quoddy Head, Maine: 44º49'N, 66º57'W.

General Diversity:

[California] [New Brunswick] D. frondosus eggs from a Californian population hatched in 6 days at 14C, and in the New Brunswick population no development was observed at 15C: could be due to adaptation differences in local populations to their surrounding environment, or possibly separate species (Watt & Aiken 2003) [Maine] possibility of a D. frondosus complex in the Gulf of Maine: mating recognition trials suggest a behavioral reproductive isolating mechanism between some populations; populations have either lecithotrophic or planktotrophic veliger larvae; veligers differ in size, developmental characteristics, and composition of gelatinous clutches; sub-annual life cycle for populations with planktotrophic larvae vs. annual life cycle for those with lecithotrophic larvae (Sisson 2002)

Non-native Distribution

Invasion History:

No records of invasion (Global Invasive Species Database 2016)

Non-native Region:

Not applicable

Invasion Propens:

Not applicable

Status Date Non-native:

Not applicable

Vectors and Spread

Initial Vector:

Not applicable

Second Vector:

Not applicable

Vector Details:

Not applicable

Spread Rate:

Not applicable

Date First Observed in Japan:

NF

Date First Observed on West coast North America:

NF

Impacts

Impact in Japan:

Not applicable

Global Impact:

Not applicable

Tolerences

Native Temperature Regime:

Cold water, Cool temperate, See details

Native Temperature Range:

Cosmopolitan in temperate waters of northern hemisphere (Carlton 2007) 3.587 - 12.863 °C (Ocean Biogeographic Information System 2016) [Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] freeze tolerance and habitat selection allow D. frondosus to survive on the exposed intertidal through winter (Gionet & Aiken, 1992) Cold water, Cool temperate (M. Otani, pers. comm.)

Non-native Temperature Regime:

Not applicable

Non-native Temperature Range:

Not applicable

Native Salinity Regime:

Polyhaline, Euhaline

Native Salinity Range:

27.165 - 35.504 PPS (Ocean Biogeographic Information System 2016) D. f. may penetrate into the western Baltic as far as Kiel and Lübeck, which shows that a certain decrease in salinity may be tolerated, say till 25psu total salinity. (Swennen 1961)

Non-native Salinity Regime:

Not applicable

Temperature Regime Survival:

Cold temperate, Cool temperate, See details

Temperature Range Survival:

Cosmopolitan in temperate waters of northern hemisphere (Carlton 2007) 3.587 - 12.863 °C (Ocean Biogeographic Information System 2016) freeze tolerance and habitat selection allow D. frondosus to survive on the exposed intertidal through winter (Gionet & Aiken, 1992, cited in Aiken 2003) [Passamaquoddy Bay] during mating, reproduction, and egg laying seasons is from 3 to 12 °C (Forgeron 1959, cited in Watt & Aiken 2003) Cold temperate, Cool temperate (M. Otani, pers. comm.)

Temperature Regime Reproduction:

Cold temperate, Cool temperate, See details

Temperature Range Reproduction:

[Passamaquoddy Bay] during mating, reproduction, and egg laying seasons is from 3 to 12 °C (Forgeron 1959, cited in Watt & Aiken 2003) [California] eggs hatched in 6 days at 14 °C (Williams 1974, cited in Watt & Aiken 2003) [New Brunswick, Canada] eggs hatched in 32 days at 10°C (Sisson 2002, cited in Watt & Aiken 2003) [New Brunswick] at 5°C eggs hatched in 33.2 ± 6.16 days; at 11°C eggs hatched in 19.1 ± 5.7 days; at 15°C eggs never hatched (Watt & Aiken 2003) Individuals and their spawn masses were maintained in aerated aquaria in seawater at 10ºC. (Sisson 2005) Cold temperate, Cool temperate (M. Otani, pers. comm.)

Salinity Regime Survival:

Polyhaline, Euhaline

Salinity Range Survival:

27.165 - 35.504 PPS (Ocean Biogeographic Information System 2016) D. f. may penetrate into the western Baltic as far as Kiel and Lübeck, which shows that a certain decrease in salinity may be tolerated, say till 25psu total salinity. (Swennen 1961)

Salintiy Regime Reproduction:

Polyhaline, Euhaline

Salinity Range Reproduction:

[New Brunswick] in the lab, at 29-33 PSU: at 5°C eggs hatched in 33.2 ± 6.16 days; at 11°C eggs hatched in 19.1 ± 5.7 days; at 15°C eggs never hatched (Watt & Aiken 2003) Seawater of 30-35psu was used for larval culture of D. f. (See Sisson 2005)

Depth Regime:

Mid intertidal, Lower intertidal, Shallow subtidal, Deep subtidal

Depth Range:

[Bowie Seamount, NE Pacific Ocean] observed to 40 m depth (Mcdaniel et al. 2003) 2-232 m sample depth (Ocean Biogeographic Information System 2016) [Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] found in rocky intertidal zone and subtidal (Aiken 2003) [Cape Neddick, York, Maine] collected from a shallow (4- 10 m) kelp bed (Lambert 1991) [Gulf of Maine] intertidal and subtidal (5-10 m deep) (Sisson 2002) D. f. has been found from low tide level down to great depths (Bergen, 30m; Trondheim, 400m). (Swennen 1961)

Non-native Salinity Range:

Native Abundance:

Common

Reproduction

Fertilization Mode:

Internal

Reproduction Mode:

Hermaphrodite/ monoecious

Spawning Type:

None

Development Mode:

See details

Asexual Reproduction:

Does not reproduce asexually

Reproduction Details:

[Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] late spring/early summer mating season: during this time, animals have a tendency to form groups of 2-8 animals; peak in weight corresponds with the mating season of this population; egg masses appear on the substrate in mid-late May and are gone by late June/early July (Aiken 2003) [Europe] population peaks occurred in June and July and eggs were present in the field from December to May (Aerts 1994, cited in Aiken 2003) lays an untidy coiled egg mass with a jelly sheet that attaches to the substrate; the egg capsules are within a cylindrical area that is secondarily twisted; eggs hatch in 7-15 days at 8-11°C (Hurst 1967, cited in Watt & Aiken 2003) [Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] temperature-dependent rate of development: eggs laid early in the season will develop more slowly than those deposited later; lecithotrophic larvae (Sisson 2002, cited in Watt & Aiken 2003) [Maine] planktotrophic veliger larvae (Sisson 2005) [Maine] adults in the same overlapping habitat distribution have either lecithotrophic or planktotrophic veliger larvae; veligers differ in size, developmental characteristics, and composition of gelatinous clutches; sub-annual life cycle for populations with planktotrophic larvae vs. annual life cycle for those with lecithotrophic larvae; D. frondosus engages in copula; Coupling lasts between 2—7 hours for each mating event (Sisson 2002) Two types of development mode of planktotrophic and lecithotrophic can be seen only in the case of Main, US. (Sisson 2002) D. f. has a planktotrophic veliger larva with Type 2 protoconch. (Thompson 1961, Hurst 1967, Williams 1971, and Sisson 2002, cited in Sisson 2005) Larval feeding type may differ: both lecithotrophic (Thompson & Brown, cited in Sisson 2002) and planktotrophic larvae (Clark 1975, cited in Sisson 2002) have been described for this species on opposite side of the Atlantic. (Sisson 2002) Hermaphrodite/ monoecious; does not spawn; does not reproduce sexually (M. Otani, pers. comm.)

Adult Mobility:

Actively mobile (Mobility is a normal part of at least part of the adult life cycle - at least in spurts. Not dependent upon distance traveled)

Adult Mobility Details:

[Maine] D. frondosus follows the pattern of polyp branching, feeding at a rate of l-2 polyps per minute (Lambert 1991) D. f. are very inactive during daytime. This species seems to like poor light. (Swennen 1961)

Maturity Size:

Slugs with well-developed sexual glands were 18mm and over. (Swennen 1961)

Maturity Age:

Less than one year. (estimated from Swennen 1961)

Reproduction Lifespan:

Seasonal spawning vary from strictly annual (Clark 1975, cited in Sisson 2002) to nearly year-round (Swennen 1961,ccited Sisson 2002). According to Sisson (2002), two types of spawning period are seen in Maine: one is an annual spring spawning event and another is an annual spawning period in the spring or early summer. Spawn was found in January and from April to the first half of August in the Netherlands. (Swennen 1961)

Longevity:

D. f. in the Netherlands may reach the age of 1 year. (Swennen 1961) At Drøbak the animals reach the age of 2 years. (Larsen 1923, cited in Swennen 1961)

Broods per Year:

NF

Reproduction Cues:

[Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] speed of development is temperature-dependent: eggs laid early in the season will develop more slowly than those deposited later (Watt & Aiken 2003)

Reproduction Time:

[Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] late spring/early summer mating season (Aiken 2003) [Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] egg masses appear on the substrate in mid to late May and are gone by late June/early July (Aiken 2003) [Europe] eggs were present in the field from December to May (Aerts 1994, cited in Aiken 2003) Seasonal spawning vary from strictly annual (Clark 1975, cited in Sisson 2002) to nearly year-round (Swennen 1961,ccited Sisson 2002). According to Sisson (2002), two types of spawning period are seen in Maine: one is an annual spring spawning event and another is an annual spawning period in the spring or early summer. Spawn was found in January and from April to the first half of August in the Netherlands. (Swennen 1961)

Fecundity:

[Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] Egg masses contain several thousand eggs (Watt & Aiken 2003)

Egg Size:

[Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] mean diameter of undeveloped egg: 142 ± 15.8 μm (Watt & Aiken 2003) Planktotrophic: 102±12.2 μm. (Sisson 2002) Lecithotrophic: 194±14.8 μm. (Sisson 2002)

Egg Duration:

[Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] egg masses appear on the substrate in mid to late May and are gone by late June/early July (Aiken 2003) [Europe] eggs were present in the field from December to May (Aerts 1994, cited in Aiken 2003) eggs hatched in 6 days at 14 °C (Williams 1974), 32 days at 10°C (Sisson 2002), 32 days at 10 C (Thompson 1967, cited in Watt & Aiken 2003) [New Brunswick] at 5°C eggs hatched in 33.2 ± 6.16 days; at 11°C eggs hatched in 19.1 ± 5.7 days; at 15°C eggs never hatched (Watt & Aiken 2003) Planktotrophic: 6.7±2.5 days. (Sisson 2002) Lecithotrophic: 32±8.9 days. (Sisson 2002)

Early Life Growth Rate:

[Maine] cultured larvae metamorphosed at 73–86 days after hatching; mean protoconch length at hatch was 227 μm; within 1 week, mean of 292 μm (Sisson 2005) Protoconch length began at a mean of 227 μm (±16 μm) at hatching, then rose to a mean 292 μm (±15 μm) within first week. After day 28, the shell length peaked at an overall mean of 301-312 μm with a low standard deviation and range of values. (Sisson 2005)

Adult Growth Rate:

NF

Population Growth Rate:

[Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] D. frondosus population peaked in the late spring/early summer mating season (Aiken 2003)

Population Variablity:

[Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] mean weight of individuals and the population size peaked in the late spring/early summer mating season; D. frondosus may undergo long-term local population cycles (Thomas et al. 1983, Aiken 2003) [Europe] population peaks occurred in June and July and eggs were present in the field from December to May (Aerts 1994, cited in Aiken 2003) leaves the intertidal when the hydroids die (Miller 1960); disappears from the intertidal in the summer (Clark 1975, cited in Aiken 2003); freeze tolerance and habitat selection allow D. frondosus to survive on the exposed intertidal through winter (Gionet & Aiken, 1992) and it was found living intertidally all year long (Aiken 2003) [Maine] adults in the same overlapping habitat distribution have either lecithotrophic or planktotrophic veliger larvae; veligers differ in size, developmental characteristics, and composition of gelatinous clutches; sub-annual life cycle for populations with planktotrophic larvae vs. annual life cycle for those with lecithotrophic larvae (Sisson 2002)

Habitat

Ecosystem:

Rocky intertidal, Rocky subtidal, Mussel reef, Coralline Algae, Macroalgal beds, Kelp forest, Fouling, Other

Habitat Type:

Epibenthic, Epiphytic, Epizoic

Substrate:

Rock, Biogenic, Artificial substrate

Exposure:

NF

Habitat Expansion:

NF

Habitat Details:

[Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] found in rocky intertidal zone of the lower Bay of Fundy, and subtidal; preference for vertical, covered rock substrates, also found on Ascophyllum nodosum,crustose coralline community, Terebratularia community, dock pilings, floats, mussels (Aiken 2003) [Cape Neddick, York, Maine] collected from colonies of Obelia geniculata, from a kelp bed of Laminaria saccharina and L. digitata; D. frondosus occupied a distinct microhabitat within the hydroid colony: hydrocauli towards the center of the colony; microhabitats are likely dictated by feeding biology. Three other species of nudibranchs (Doto coronata, Eubranchus exiguus, and Tergipes tergipes) also found in O. geniculata, each within their own microhabitat; D. frondosus occupied a distinct microhabitat within the hydroid colony, the hydrocauli towards the center of the colony(Lambert 1991) [Epibionts] D. frondosus is associated with the hydroid Obelia longissima (Rudy et al. 1979) D. f. are found on mussels, Ulva, Laminaria-"leaves" and on various hydroids: Tubularia indivisa, T. larynx, Clava multicorinis, Sertularia cupressina, Campanularia johnstoni, Laomedea longissima and L. geniculata. (Swennen 1961) D. f. is found associated with colonies of Obelia spp. growing on rocky ledges and as epiphytes on the kelps Laminaria spp. and Agarum cribosum (Lambert 1991, cited in Sisson 2002) D. f. is also found midway through the protected rockweed zone in dense beds of Ascophyllum nodosum. (Gionet & Aiken 1992, Bleakney 1996, cited in Sisson 2002) Here, these slugs are commonly found eating the epiphytic and epilithic hydroid Sertularia pumila. (Sisson 2002) D. f. were predominantly found feeding on Obelia geniculata and other thecate hydroids and were approximately 2-5 cm long. (Sisson 2005)

Trophic Level:

Predator

Trophic Details:

feeds on wide variety of hydroids: Obelia spp., Abietinaria app, Tubularia spp, Coryne spp., ) and on the tunicate Botryllus schlosseri (Carlton 2007) feeds on hydroids (Kozloff 1996) [Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick] hydroid feeder (Aiken 2003) [York, Maine, USA] generalist predator within colonies of Obelia geniculata (Lambert 1991) General occurrence on hydroids of this species indicates that it is entirely committed to hydroids. The observation that D. f. is eating a hydranth of Tubularia indivisa may support this. (Swennen 1961) RELATED: [Dendronotacea (suborder)] most feed on cnidarians (hydroids, sea anemones, sea whips, sea pens, and scyphistomas) (Kozloff 1990)

Forage Mode:

Generalist

Forage Details:

[York, Maine, USA] generalist predator within colonies of Obelia geniculata; has a multi-seriate radula; when small (<5 mm), individuals are suctorial feeders (grasp the hydroid with the anterior portion of their foot and suck the tissue out) whereas larger nudibranchs (>5 mm), bite whole polyps: the polyp was clipped off at its base, and the nudibranch would continue along a hydrocaulus following the alternating pattern of polyp branching, feeding at a rate of l-2 polyps per minute (Lambert 1991) Live on variout species of hydroids. (Swennen 1961)

Natural Control:

PREDATION [Predation][Cape Neddick, York, Maine] fish predation (Lambert 1991)

Associated Species:

NF

References and Notes

References:

Aiken RB (2003) Some aspects of the life history of an intertidal population of the nudibranch Dendronotus frondosus (Ascanius, 1774)(Opisthobranchia: Dendronotoidea) in the Bay of Fundy. The Veliger. 46(2):169-75. Carlton, JT (2007) The Light and Smith manual: intertidal invertebrates from central California to Oregon. London, England: University of California Press, Ltd Ekimova I, Korshunova T, Schepetov D, Neretina T, Sanamyan N, Martynov A (2015) Integrative systematics of northern and Arctic nudibranchs of the genus Dendronotus (Mollusca, Gastropoda), with descriptions of three new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 173: 841–886. Global Invasive Species Database. http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/search.php Access Date: 25-Mar-16 and 11-May-2016. Kozloff EN (1990) Invertebrates. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders College Publishing Kozloff EN (1996) Marine invertebrates of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press Lambert WJ (1991) Coexistence of hydroid eating nudibranchs: do feeding biology and habitat use matter?. The Biological Bulletin. 181(2):248-60. http://www.biolbull.org/content/181/2/248.full.pdf McDaniel N, Swanston D, Haight R, Reid D, Grant G (2003) Biological Observations at Bowie Seamount. Fisheries and Oceans Canada. http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/328294.pdf Sisson CG (2002) Dichotomous life history patterns for the nudibranch Dendronotus frondosus (Ascanius, 1774) in the Gulf of Maine. The Veliger. 45(4):290-8. Sisson CG (2005) Veligers from the nudibranch Dendronotus frondosus show shell growth and extended planktonic period in laboratory culture. Hydrobiologia 541: 205-213. Ocean Biogeographic Information System. Dendronotus frondosus. http://iobis.org/mapper/. Access Date: 25-Mar-16 Rudy P Jr, Rudy LH, Shanks A, Butler B (1979) Obelia longissima. In: Oregon Estuarine Invertebrates. University of Oregon. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/12643/O_longissima.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Sisson CG (2005) Veligers from the nudibranch Dendronotus frondosus show shell growth and extended planktonic period in laboratory culture. Hydrobiologia. 541(1):205-13. Swennen C (1961) Data on distribution, reproduction and ecology of the nudibranchiate molluscs occurring in the Netherlands. Netherland Journal of Sea Research 1: 191-240. Watt JL, Aiken RB (2003) Effect of temperature on development time in egg masses of the intertidal nudibranch, Dendronotus frondosus (Ascanius 1774)(Opisthobranchia, Dendronotacea). Northeastern naturalist. 10(1):17-24.

Literature:

Substantial scientific information; non-peer-reviewed information; data specific to the region; supported by recent data (within the last 10 years) or research

Notes:

NA