Roboastra europaea from Portugal

April 25, 2006
From: David Abecasis


Hello again Bill,

Here's another nudibranch of which I'm not sure. Is this a Tambja? If so which species?

Locality: Faro, 16 metres, Portugal, Atlantic Ocean, 13 April 2006. Photographer: David Abecasis.

Many thanks,
David Abecasis

davidbecas@netcabo.pt

Abecasis, D., 2006 (Apr 25) Roboastra europaea from Portugal. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16337

Dear David,
This is another nice find. It certainly looks like a Tambja but it belongs to the related genus Roboastra, whose species are hunters feeding on other polycerids, especially species of Tambja. Your species is appropriately named Roboastra europaea.

Species of Tambja can be identified by the large enrolled oral tentacles you can see on each side of the mouth. Species of the bryozoan feeding genus Tambja, and the ascidian feeding Nembrotha, don't usually have such enlarged tentacles, although there are some exceptions such as the recently described Tambja tentaculata.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Apr 25). Comment on Roboastra europaea from Portugal by David Abecasis. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16337

Factsheet

Roboastra europaea

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