Doto coronata
species of mollusc
Doto coronata is a species of small sea slug or nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Dotidae. It is the type species of the genus Doto.
Doto coronata sensu lato
Before 1976 a number of species were called by the name Doto coronata and the process of splitting this complex into species was started by Henning Lemche. Species with translucent white bodies and red or black spots on the cerata which were formerly identified as Doto coronata include:
Doto africoronata Shipman & Gosliner, 2015
Doto dunnei Lemche, 1976
Doto eireana Lemche, 1976
Doto hydrallmaniae Morrow, Thorpe & Picton, 1992
Doto koenneckeri Lemche, 1976
Doto maculata (Montagu, 1804)
Doto millbayana Lemche, 1976
Doto onusta Hesse, 1872
Doto sarsiae Morrow, Thorpe & Picton, 1992
Distribution
The type locality for this species is on the Dutch coast. A specimen from near Goes, Eastern Scheldt, Zeeland was designated as a neotype in a recent review of the genus Doto. It has been reported elsewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean (European waters, Canada, Gulf of Maine) and the Mediterranean Sea (Greece) but many records are likely to be of sibling species. It was erroneously reported from around the South African coast where it is found from the Atlantic coast to Knysna and this species has been described as Doto africoronata.
Description
This species is a small nudibranch, with grape-bunch-like clusters of cerata extending in pairs along the sides of the body. In all Doto the rhinophores extend from cup-like sheaths. Doto coronata is translucent white in colour with mottling of dark red on the back and sides of the body.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Doto coronata” as species of mollusc. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of mollusc. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3142217. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1976, 2015, 1992 and 1804.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Doto coronata” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.