Sunday 19 May
Sea lemon (Archidoris pseudoargus)
What’s the World’s Favourite Species?
Find out here.Sea lemon fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Sea lemon description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Mollusca |
| Class | Gastropoda |
| Order | Nudibranchia |
| Family | Archidorididae |
| Genus | Archidoris (1) |
The sea lemon, Archidoris pseudoargus (also known as Archidoris tuberculata in much of Europe) (3) is a common sea slug around Britain (4). It has an oval shaped body (2) and varies greatly in colour. Yellow, pink, green, white and brown forms are known, and there is also a brilliant red variety known as Archidoris pseudoargus var. flammea (4). It is usually mottled to a degree, which may act as camouflage (4). The upper surface of the sea lemon is covered in bumps called 'tubercles', and a ring of 8-9 retractable feathery gills is located towards the rear (2). This species may be confused with the similar Geitodoris planata, which can be identified by the presence of brown spots on the underside, and star-like spots on the upper surface (4).
- Size
- Length: up to 12 cm (2)
Sea lemon biology
The sea lemon feeds mainly on the bread-crumb sponge Halichondria panicea and other sponges (4). It is hermaphroditic, possessing both male and female organs. Breeding occurs in the spring (5); thousands of eggs are produced in a long mass, which is attached to rocks and looks like a coiled whitish or yellowish ribbon (5).
The larvae are free-swimming, and hatch after around four weeks. This pelagic stage lasts for around three months; larvae then undergo metamorphosis and become adults. It is thought that metamorphosis is triggered by the larva coming into contact with Halichondria sponges (5). Individuals are known to have lived to around 1 year of age, although they may live longer (5).
TopSea lemon range
Common around the coastline of Britain (2); elsewhere it is found from Iceland to the Mediterranean (4).
More »
Species with a similar range
|
You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
Sea lemon habitat
Occurs on the lower shore underneath large rocks, and extends offshore to depths of around 300m (2).
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Sea lemon status
Common and widespread (2).
TopSea lemon threats
Not currently threatened (2).
TopSea lemon conservation
Conservation action has not been targeted at this species.
|
|
There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. |
Find out more
For more on this species, and other British sea slugs, see:
-
Nudibranchs of the British Isles:
http://www.seaslug.org.uk/nudibranchs/
For more on sea slugs, see:
-
Sea Slug Forum:
http://www.seaslugforum.net/
Authentication
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk
Glossary
- Hermaphroditic
- Possessing both male and female sex organs.
- Larvae
- Stage in an animal's lifecycle after it hatches from the egg. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but usually are unable to reproduce.
- Metamorphosis
- An abrupt physical change from the larval to the adult form.
- Pelagic
- Inhabits the open oceans.
References
-
National Biodiversity Network Species Dictionary (January, 2003)
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nbn/ -
Ager, O. E. D. 2002. Archidoris pseudoargus. Sea lemon. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth:Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. (November, 2002)
http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/Archidorispseudoargus.htm -
Sea Slug Forum. Rudman, W. B., 2001. Archidoris pseudoarus (Rapp, 1827) (November, 2002)
http://www.seaslugforum.net/archpseu.htm -
Nudibranchs of the British Isles (November, 2002)
http://www.pictonb.freeserve.co.uk/nudibranchs/arcpse.html - Fish, J.D. and Fish, S. (1996) A student's guide to the seashore. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
More »Related species
This species is featured in:
This is a UK rocky shore species. Visit our habitat page to learn more.
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
Saturday 18 May
Friday 17 May
X
Close
Close
Image credit
Sea lemon
© gettyimages.com
Getty Images
101 Bayham Street
London
NW1 0AG
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 800 376 7981
sales@gettyimages.com
http://www.gettyimages.com
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.