Fiona pinnata in northern Canada

August 9, 2003
From: Andy Lamb

Hello Bill,
This is just a quick note and I do hope to participate more fully in the future.

On a recent trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands in northern British Columbia, Canada, I found a drifting bull kelp plant colonized by Lepas barnacles and populated by very large egg-laying Fiona pinnata. Behrens reported it to be a tropical species with a worldwide distribution and responses in the Forum seem to bear that out for the most part. Is my sigting this far north unusual?
Regards,
Andy Lamb
Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre

lamba@vanaqua.org

Lamb, A, 2003 (Aug 9) Fiona pinnata in northern Canada. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10663

Dear Andy,
Fiona pinnata is a truly cosmopolitan species, apparently dependent only on floating objects to drift on, and Lepas, or related barnacles, to feed on. In fact it was first described from specimens found at Sitka, Alaska. It is known from all the major oceans of the world, from Alaska in the north to at least New Zealand and South Africa in the south.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Aug 9). Comment on Fiona pinnata in northern Canada by Andy Lamb. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10663

Factsheet

Fiona pinnata

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