Cuthona yamasui from Tioman Island
March 9, 2004
From: Asther M. Lau
Dear Bill,
Attached is a series of pics I took from one night dive in Tioman Island of a pair of Cuthona kanga getting ready to mate.
The whole process from first pic to last pic took about 8 mins. I didn't take any pics further as my buddies were running low of bottom time.
Site: Salang Wreck, Tioman Island, Malaysia
Date: 17th Oct 2003
Depth: 22 meter
Bottom Contour: Sandy slope
Average size of both: 1 cm
Hope this collection is of useful information for this wonderful site.
Regards,
AML
alau425@hotmail.com
Lau, A.M., 2004 (Mar 9) Cuthona yamasui from Tioman Island. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12404
Dear Asther,
Thanks for this interesting observation. We know little about behaviour in most opisthobranchs, but it seems that many seem to be able to follow the mucus trails of their own kind. I say 'seems' because we have little evidence to support such an idea but we often find a pair, like you have, following each other. Mating seems to be a fairly normal response when two animals of the same species meet. I guess when meeting is usually a chance occurrence, it is important to mate whenever the opportunity arises.
This animal is Cuthona yamasui. As I said in an earlier message [#419] this species has been misidentified as Cuthona kanga in some identification guides.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
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