{{Short description|Species of gastropod}} {{Speciesbox | image = | taxon = Aiteng ater | authority = Swennen & Buatip, 2009<ref>{{cite WoRMS |year=2018 |title=''Aiteng ater'' |id=547524 |db=MolluscaBase |accessdate=2018-11-26}}</ref><ref name="Swennen 2009">Swennen C. & Buatip S. "''Aiteng ater'', new genus, new species, an amphibious and insectivorous sea slug that is difficult to classify [Mollusca: Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia: Sacoglossa(?): Aitengidae, new family]". ''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology'' '''57'''(2): 495–500. [http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/57/57rbz495-500.pdf PDF] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302190017/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/57/57rbz495-500.pdf |date=2012-03-02 }}.</ref> }}

'''''Aiteng ater''''' is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Aitengidae.<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> The specific name ''ater'' is from the Latin language and means black, in reference to the appearance of the slug on the mud.<ref name="Swennen 2009"/>

''Aiteng ater'' was chosen by the International Institute for Species Exploration of Arizona State University to be one of the "Top 10 New Species described in 2009".<ref>[http://species.asu.edu/Top10 "Top 10 New Species&nbsp;– 2010"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529025703/http://species.asu.edu/Top10 |date=2012-05-29 }} .[http://species.asu.edu/2010_species04 "Top 10&nbsp;– 2010 Bug-eating Slug"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228040739/http://species.asu.edu/2010_species04 |date=2010-12-28 }}. accessed 29 November 2010.</ref>

== Distribution == The distribution of ''Aiteng ater'' includes Thailand. The type locality is 8°29'18" N, 100°10'55" E, Amphoe Pak Phanang, Pak Phanang Bay, in the Gulf of Thailand.<ref name="Swennen 2009"/>

== Description == The size of the body is 8–12&nbsp;mm.<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> The shape of the body is elongate, but broad.<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> The color of the slug is from grey to black.<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> The eyes are the only externally clearly visible feature on its head.

''Aiteng ater'' has an unusual combination of morphological characters: * Reduction of mantle cavity<ref name="Jörger 2010"/> * Prepharyngeal (circumpharyngeal) nerve ring<ref name="Jörger 2010"/> * The presence of ascus<ref name="Jörger 2010"/> However, re-examination of the supposed "ascus" in ''Aiteng ater'' is necessary, because an examination of an undescribed species Aitengidae sp. from Japan showed no true (i.e. sacoglossan-like) ascus containing old teeth, just a radula slightly bent at the end.<ref name="Jörger 2010"/> * Uniseriate radula (radula with a descending and ascending limb)<ref name="Jörger 2010"/> * The radula has a strong rhachidian tooth<ref name="Jörger 2010"/> * The large, internal lateral eyes closely associated with the cerebral ganglia<ref name="Jörger 2010"/> * The presence of a foot groove<ref name="Jörger 2010"/> * A branched digestive gland.<ref name="Jörger 2010"/>

This species lacks several acochlidian characteristics: * It has no shell<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> * No tentacles<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> * No gills<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> * No cerata<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> * It lacks the division of the body into head-foot complex and visceral hump<ref name="Jörger 2010"/> * It lacks presence of 1–2 head appendages (with characteristic innervation of the rhinophores)<ref name="Jörger 2010"/> * Tt lacks the ability to retract the head-foot complex into the visceral hump.<ref name="Jörger 2010"/>

''Aiteng ater'' has a notum with a free margin.<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> However, in the absence of a separated visceral hump, ''Aiteng ater'' is able to retract its head under the frontal part of the notum.<ref name="Jörger 2010"/>

== Ecology == ''Aiteng ater'' is an amphibious species which lives in mangrove forests in the intertidal zone, on the mud.<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> It lives "amphibiously", and tolerates marine to brackish waters, but there are no observations of these animals truly leaving the water.<ref name="Jörger 2010"/><ref name="Swennen 2009"/>

''Aiteng ater'' feeds on insects, (is insectivorous).<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> In the laboratory it has been observed to eat pupae of beetles (Coleoptera), pupae of Lepidoptera, imagos of mosquitos and larvae of ants.<ref name="Swennen 2009"/>

Inside the bodies of individuals of ''Aiteng ater'', there were found to be white elongated endoparasites; these are as yet unstudied.<ref name="Swennen 2009"/> However the "parasites" described for ''Aiteng ater'' might represent spicules instead,<ref name="Jörger 2010"/> because the presence of spicules is confirmed for the undescribed species Aitengidae sp. from Japan.<ref name="Jörger 2010"/>

== References == This article incorporates CC-BY-2.0 text from Jörger et al. 2010.<ref name="Jörger 2010">Jörger K. M., Stöger I., Kano Y., Fukuda H., Knebelsberger T. & Schrödl M. (2010). "On the origin of Acochlidia and other enigmatic euthyneuran gastropods, with implications for the systematics of Heterobranchia". ''BMC Evolutionary Biology'' '''10''': 323. {{doi|10.1186/1471-2148-10-323|doi-access=free}}.</ref> {{Reflist}}

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ater Category:Gastropods described in 2009