Three-tooth Cavoline

Cavolinia tridentata

''Cavolinia tridentata'' is a species of sea butterfly, a floating and swimming sea snail or sea slug, a pelagic marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cavoliniidae.
Sea Butterfly - Tiny Cavolinia pteropod, less than 1 cm floating in the water column, seen during a night dive. This planktonic mollusc is commonly known as a pteropod, or flapping snail, a name derived from its characteristic 'wing foot'. It possesses a globose, bilaterally symmetrical calcareous shell that houses and protects the soft parts of the organism. The large mantle lobes extend beyond the shell margin and, by a flapping motion, enable movement. Feeding is performed passively whilst drifting in the plankton community by casting a large, mucous web in order to catch a variety of phytoplankton (diatoms and dinoflagellates) and zooplankton (copepods and crustacea larvae). This picture is a Sea Butterfly from the genus Cavolina, possibly Cavolina tridentata. Anilao,Batangas,Cavolina,Cavolina sp,Cavolina tridentata,Cavolinia tridentata,Geotagged,Philippines,Winter

Appearance

The maximum recorded shell length is 20 mm.

Distribution

This marine species has a wide distribution: European waters, the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean , the Northwest Atlantic , Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Lesser Antilles, Indian Ocean , the Indo-Pacific and off New Zealand.

Habitat

Minimum recorded depth is 0 m. Maximum recorded depth is 4791 m.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionMollusca
ClassGastropoda
OrderPteropoda
FamilyCavoliniidae
GenusCavolinia
SpeciesC. tridentata
Photographed in
Philippines