Flabellina affinis

Flabellina affinis is a species of sea slug within the clade of aeolid nudibranch; a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Flabellinidae.^[2]

Flabellina affinis
The nudibranch Flabellina affinis, Banyuls-sur-Mer, France.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Nudibranchia
Suborder:	Cladobranchia
Superfamily:	Fionoidea
Family:	Flabellinidae
Genus:	Flabellina
Species:	F. affinis
Binomial name
Flabellina affinis (Gmelin, 1791)[1]
Synonyms
Doris affinis Gmelin, 1791 (original combination)

Distribution

This species is found in depths to 50 m in European waters in the Atlantic Ocean from Portugal to Ghana and the Canaries and is widespread in the Mediterranean Sea.^[3]

Description

The species can grow to a length of 50 mm. It feeds primarily on species of Eudendrium, a very common hydroid genus in the Mediterranean Sea.

Flabellina affinis is often confused with Paraflabellina ischitana, but can be distinguished as follows:

• Flabellina affinis: the outer part of the digestive gland in each ceras is not visible as the area beneath the subapical white ring is opaque violet in colour.
• Paraflabellina ischitana: the ceratal surface has no purple-violet colouration and is translucent.

• 
  Flabellina affinis on its food Eudendrium racemosum