Knoutsodonta sparsa

Knoutsodonta sparsa
	The nudibranch Onchidoris sparsa, 4 mm length, Gulen Dive Resort, Norway.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Nudibranchia
Superfamily:	Onchidoridoidea
Family:	Onchidorididae
Genus:	Knoutsodonta
Species:	K. sparsa
Binomial name
	Knoutsodonta sparsa; (Alder & Hancock, 1846)
Synonyms
	Doris sparsa Alder & Hancock, 1846 ; Onchidoris sparsa (Alder & Hancock, 1846) ;

Knoutsodonta sparsa is a species of sea slug, a dorid nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Onchidorididae.^[2]

Distribution

This species was described from Cullercoats, North Tyneside, England. It is currently known from the European coasts of the North Atlantic Ocean from Norway, Orkney and Sweden south to the northern coast of Spain.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Knoutsodonta sparsa feeds on the bryozoan Cellepora pumicosa. It has also been reported to eat Porella concinna.^[6]

^ Alder J. & Hancock A. (1846). Notices of some new and rare British species of naked Mollusca. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 18: 289-294, pl. 4.
^ ^a ^b Gofas, S. (2015). Onchidoris sparsa. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2016-01-17.
^ Alder J. & Hancock A. (1845-1855). A monograph of the British nudibranchiate Mollusca: with figures of all the species. The Ray Society, London. Published in 8 parts:Part 4 Fam. 1 Plate 14 [1848].
^ Picton, B.E. & Morrow, C.C. (2015). Onchidoris sparsa (Alder & Hancock, 1846). [In] Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland. Accessed on 2016-01-15.
^ Rudman, W.B., 2009 (November 29) Onchidoris sparsa (Alder & Hancock, 1846). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney.
^ ^a ^b Thompson, T. E. and G. H. Brown (1984). Biology of Opisthobranch Molluscs Vol 2. 229 pp. 41 Pls. Ray Society, page 62.
^ Ortea, J. A. (1979). Onchidoris sparsa (Alder & Hancock, 1846) in Asturias, northern Spain. The Veliger 22(1): 45-48.