Bulla gouldiana behaviour from San Diego
May 25, 2006
From: MIke Neubig
Thought you might enjoy these behavior photos of Bulla gouldiana (Gould's Bubble Snail). The portion above the sand bottom of the mucus tube could have been 2 feet long. During this particular dive, I had seen Bulla here and there, including several feeding (seemingly) on loose blades of Macrocystis pyrifera, a brown alga. Then, when it was time to head back in, I came up over the canyon rim and onto the shoulder only to find dozens and dozens and dozens. These photos are from that congregation. Since red algae is not listed on the Bulla fact sheet as a food, I'll look for some photo ops documenting this this afternoon, as well as some herd shots.
Locality: Valley-Sea-Toes, La Jolla Shores, 14m, California, USA, Eastern Pacific Ocean, 19 May 2006, sandy sloping shoulder of La Jolla Canyon. Length: 25 mm tpy (shell). Photographer: Mike Neubig.
Mike Neubig
mike.neubig@gmail.com
Neubig, M., 2006 (May 25) Bulla gouldiana behaviour from San Diego. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16670Dear Mike,
Thanks for these shots. The one alongside defintiely shows two animals mating. If you look carefully you can see a pale orange tube [the penis] running diagonally from the lower side of the head of the darker animal into the mantle cavity of the paler animal.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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