Re: Colour variation in Thecacera pennigera?

October 2, 1999
From: Loumar Wittebroodt

Could it be possible that species change colors, if not in the right water temperature or feeding ground?
Some tropical fish change their colour when the temperature rises or falls....
Loumar Wittebroodt

loumar@village.uunet.be

Wittebroodt, L., 1999 (Oct 2) Re: Colour variation in Thecacera pennigera?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1389

Dear Loumar,
I guess your question arises from the discussion occurring throughout the messages on Thecacera pennigera about the different colour forms found in different parts of the world.

Have a look at the page on opisthobranch colour patterns, where I discuss the many different ways that a slug is coloured and why. The important point is to know in each case how the colour is made. In some a slug while make its own pigment, no doubt under genetic control, but in many cases the pigments are secondarily acquired from their food, so environmental factors are involved. from my observations it seems that Discodoris lilacina can change colour in a few hours, perhaps by the use of pigment sacs, like cephalopods, but it has not been studied experimentally.

Thecacera pennigera would seem to be a species in which the colour pattern is genetically determined.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 1999 (Oct 2). Comment on Re: Colour variation in Thecacera pennigera? by Loumar Wittebroodt. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1389

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