Aplysia parvula - eaten by Nemertine worm [1]

April 29, 2005
From: Dong Bum Koh


Dear Bill,

Here are a set of photos for your Forum showing Aplysia parvula meeting a terrible end. It was eaten by Lineus fuscoviridis. [Phylum Nemertea]. It looks like a snake eating its prey. [see message #13660  for further photos]

The whole sequence captured in these photos took just over 2 minutes:  14:45:27 - 14:47:37

Locality: Gam Po Beach, Kyung Book Province. South Korea. Depth: 11 m. 17 April 2005. Rocky bottom. Photographer: Ok Soo Kim

Best regards,
Dong Bum Koh

drkoh@seasee.co.kr

D. B. Koh, 2005 (Apr 29) Aplysia parvula - eaten by Nemertine worm [1]. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13659

Dear Koh,
Thank you, and Ok Soo Kim, for sharing these fascinating and spectacular photos with us.  I have put the final photos in the sequence in a separate message [#13660 ].

We don't get many observations of what eats sea slugs so this is a valuable addition to our knowledge of the biology of Aplysia parvula. Elsewhere on the Forum pycnogonids [sea spiders] are reported to be a major predator in Australia.

For those of you unfamiliar with nemertine worms, their mouth opens below the head, and they have a characteristic eversible proboscis which is separate from the mouth and is used in capturing the prey. I can't see any sign of the proboscis in these photos which shows the sea hare being quickly engulfed by the highly extensible mouth. The squarish green bit lying along the 'neck' of the sea hare is the worm's head.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Apr 29). Comment on Aplysia parvula - eaten by Nemertine worm [1] by Dong Bum Koh. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13659

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