Common brassbuttons vs common grey sea slug

Cotula coronopifolia compared with Aeolidia papillosa

Key Differences

• Common brassbuttons is Not Evaluated while common grey sea slug is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common brassbuttons	common grey sea slug
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Mollusca (Mollusks)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Gastropoda (Gastropoda)
Order	Asterales (Daisies & Sunflowers)	Nudibranchia (Nudibranchia)
Family	Asteraceae (Daisy Family)	Aeolidiidae
Genus	Cotula	Aeolidia
Species	Cotula coronopifolia	Aeolidia papillosa

Conservation Status

Common brassbuttons

NE — Not Evaluated

common grey sea slug

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common brassbuttons	common grey sea slug
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common brassbuttons

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Morocco), Asia (Japan), Europe (15 countries), North America (Canada, Mexico, United States), and South America (6 countries).

common grey sea slug

Habitat

Typically found in terrestrial and aquatic habitats including forests and freshwater.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Common brassbuttons

Common brassbuttons (<em>Cotula coronopifolia</em>) is a small annual or perennial herb with a remarkably broad global distribution, occurring across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. This species typically inhabits diverse terrestrial environments, often colonizing wet or damp areas such as salt marshes, mudflats, stream margins, and disturbed roadsides. The common brassbuttons has not been formally evaluated on the IUCN Red List. A member of the family Asteraceae, it produces distinctive button-like yellow flowerheads that give the species its common name. Originally native to southern Africa, the species has spread widely and is considered naturalized or invasive in many regions outside its native range. It often thrives in seasonally flooded habitats and tolerates saline soils, demonstrating considerable ecological flexibility. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.

common grey sea slug

<em>Aeolidia papillosa</em>, commonly known as the common grey sea slug, is a nudibranch mollusc belonging to the genus Aeolidia within the family Aeolidiidae. Despite the species name referencing terrestrial and aquatic habitats including forests and freshwater, <em>Aeolidia papillosa</em> is primarily a marine organism. Its range includes Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, indicating a distribution across the North Atlantic and into South American waters. Common grey sea slug is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The species is typically found in intertidal and subtidal zones, where it preys on sea anemones and stores stinging cells from its prey in its dorsal cerata for defense. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 5 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇱 Chile 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden