Syphonota geographica from Dominica

July 23, 2004
From: Linda Ianniello


Dr. Bill,
Here are two shots of Syphonota geographica that I recently found in the Caribbean.

Location: Dominica, Eastern Caribbean
Sea grass bed off Castle Comfort Hotel
Depth: 20 to 25 feet
Date: July, 2004
Size: approximately 4 inches

We saw several of them each night, but none during the day. They were crawling in the sand around the sea grass, but I didn't see any evidence of what they were actually feeding on. One shot shows two together, with eggs. I hope this helps prove it is 'circumtropical' and extends its reported range!

I really miss looking at your updates to the Forum every day, but am very glad to see that you are finding the time to add a few items each week. I'm sure it is taking away from your free time, but the Forum is such a great resource that we do appreciate your efforts
Regards,
Linda I.

lindai@us.ibm.com

Ianniello, L., 2004 (Jul 23) Syphonota geographica from Dominica. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12702

Dear Linda,
This is indeed an interesting find. It is not mentioned in Eveline Marcus's review of the western Atlantic Anaspidea (1972) and I certainly could not find any early records of this species from the Caribbean when I looked some time ago. So as you say this is a new find for the Caribbean and does indeed give the species a circumtropical distribution. The question that must be considered is whether this is a recent arrival, as I suggested from Mediterranean records on the Forum [#8637], or is it a species which has been overlooked in the past?

• Marcus, Ev. (1972) On the Anaspidea (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia) of the warm waters of the western Atlantic. Bulletin of Marine Science, 22(4): 841-874.

Concerning the Forum. Hopefully I can aim at a few messages daily. Your message again illustrates just how shortsighted are those that hold that the Forum is not a valuable source of new scientific information.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2004 (Jul 23). Comment on Syphonota geographica from Dominica by Linda Ianniello. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12702

Factsheet

Syphonota geographica

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