Doto species from Eastport, Maine, USA
September 8, 2003
From: Alan Shepard
Bill -
Here's a photo of a Doto from Eastport, Maine [USA] that I'm hoping you or someone else can assist in identifying. Dr. Larry Harris of the University of New Hampshire took a look at it and said he had not seen this particular Doto in our area and suggested that Terry Gosliner or yourself might be able to help.
When I first saw it underwater I thought it might be Doto coronata but when I got the photo back I didn't think so. The cerata do not look like those of the D. coronata we normally see in New England. I'm sending a shot of D. coronata [message 1] and another Doto [message 2] shortly also taken in Eastport.
This Doto was approximately 10mm long and was found in about 12m of water.
Best wishes,
Alan Shepard
Tolland, CT, USA
alan.chepard@snet.net
Shepard, A., 2003 (Sep 8) Doto species from Eastport, Maine, USA. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10894Thanks Alan,
Your animal has similarities to a couple of European species externally, but I would follow Bernard Picton's belief that the key to Doto identities is likely to be the food they eat. I am not sure in this case, if your slug's presence on the stalk of a hydroid, which looks like a species of Tubularia, is significant, but it is certainly worth noting so if you run into this species again you can check whether it has a liking for this hydroid or not.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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