The Spanish dancer is a large, vividly colored sea slug, a type of nudibranch, found on reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea. When disturbed, it can detach from the seafloor and swim by rippling the wide, frilled edges of its body up and down, a flowing motion that resembles a flamenco dancer's swirling skirt and gives the species its common name. Its bright red and white coloring warns predators of the unpalatable or toxic chemicals it sequesters from the sponges it feeds on.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Relationship to People Scientific NameHexabranchus sanguineus 4 Conservation Status Comparison
CITES Appendix Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Wikidata: Spanish Dancer
In Biome
In Ecosystem
Source SeaLifeBase: Hexabranchus sanguineus summary
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. SeaLifeBase: Hexabranchus sanguineus summary
SeaLifeBaseHuman uses
Fisheries: commercial
Biology
Derives a potent chemical defense from Halichondria sp., a sponge that it eats.
View the Source 2. GBIF Species API
3. UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat): Species+: Gastropoda
UNEP-WCMC Species+ database (CITES Secretariat)Species+ taxon_concepts, id 44Quote, Species+ taxon_concepts, id 44
"cites_listing":"I/II/NC","eu_listing":"A/B/D/NC","higher_taxa":{"kingdom":"Animalia","phylum":"Mollusca","class":"Gastropoda","order":null,"family":null},"synonyms":[],"common_names":[{"name":"Snails And Conches","language":"EN"},{"name":"Escargots Et Strombes","language":"FR"},{"name":"Caracoles Y Conchas","language":"ES"},{"name":"腹足纲","language":"ZH"}],"cites_listings":[]
4. Wikipedia: Spanish dancer
Wikipedia- Wikidata Q2563660 (P225 taxon name)
In Biome: Marine, Lead section
The Spanish dancer, scientific name Hexabranchus sanguineus (literally meaning "blood-colored six-gills"), is a dorid nudibranch, a very large and colorful sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Hexabranchidae.
View the Source 5. GBIF (IUCN Red List category): GBIF IUCN Red List category for Hexabranchus sanguineus
GBIF (IUCN Red List category)GBIF taxon key 5724734, category fieldQuote, GBIF taxon key 5724734, category field
"category": "NOT_EVALUATED"
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Wikidata: Spanish Dancer
- Wikidata Q2563660, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
- Child Taxon Of: Gastropoda, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chain
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