Jorunna tomentosa is usually sandy brown in colour with a loosely paired series of dark brown blotches down the sides of the body. It grows to about 6 cm in length.The mantle of Jorunna tomentosa is velvety, caused by the dense covering of small, uniform tubercles with an array of protruding spicules (caryophyllidia). Each tubercle has a characteristic retractile central projecting finger. There are up to 17 tripinnate gills, located within a gill pocket. The oral tentacles are short, slender and finger-like. The foot projects posteriorly when crawling. Jorunna tomentosa feeds on encrusting siliceous sponges, especially Halichondria panicea and Haliclona spp. Its colour and texture ensure this sea slug is well camouflaged amongst the sponges.Spawning is recorded February to August (Thompson & Brown, 1984). The spawn is a broad ribbon laid in neat, tight coil. Each spiral spawn mass contains up to 145,000 eggs (Thompson & Brown, 1984).

J. tomentosa is yellow to sandy brown in colour. The mantle is velvety in appearance and to the touch. This effect is created by the presence of numerous, small, uniform tubercles. Usually there are several pairs of dark brown spots on the sides of the mantle, however the variety lemchei lacks these spots. Individuals may reach a length of up to 55mm.

Belgian Exclusive Economic Zone, European waters (ERMS scope), Greek Exclusive Economic Zone, Irish Exclusive economic Zone, Oosterschelde, Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone, Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone, United Kingdom Exclusive Economic Zone, Wimereux

Found all around the British Isles and from the Faeroes to the Mediterranean.

Depth range based on 38 specimens in 1 taxon.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 8 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0 - 81
  Temperature range (°C): 7.066 - 12.270
  Nitrate (umol/L): 4.820 - 8.618
  Salinity (PPS): 34.990 - 35.343
  Oxygen (ml/l): 6.068 - 6.213
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.373 - 0.624
  Silicate (umol/l): 2.639 - 3.617

Graphical representation

Depth range (m): 0 - 81

Temperature range (°C): 7.066 - 12.270

Nitrate (umol/L): 4.820 - 8.618

Salinity (PPS): 34.990 - 35.343

Oxygen (ml/l): 6.068 - 6.213

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.373 - 0.624

Silicate (umol/l): 2.639 - 3.617
 
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 Common on the lower shore and shallow sublittoral on rocky coasts. Feeds on encrusting siliceous sponges especially Halichondria panicea and Haliclona spp.

This animal may be found on the shore and in the shallow subtidal. It feeds on a variety of sponges, but especially on species of Haliclona including Haliclona oculata and Halclona cinerea. The spawn is a broad ribbon laid in a neat, tight coil.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.


There is 1 barcode sequence available from BOLD and GenBank.   Below is the sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen.  Other sequences that do not yet meet barcode criteria may also be available.


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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 1
Specimens with Barcodes: 6
Species With Barcodes: 1