Akera bullata swimming

July 17, 2006
From: Ian Buzzard


Never seen here before, moves along using umbrella-like vane opening and closing. Appears to rise to surface as if to breathe? then descends to bottom for a few minutes, and moves about looking like a bee in slow motion.There were about twenty of these at most, then they disappeared in June as weather got hotter. A lady at Blue Reef Aquarium at Southsea seemed to think it is a nudibranch, but did not know the particular type.The pics were extracted from video, so are not too clear.

Locality: Gosport, Hampshire, 1 to 2 feet, England, off The Solent, 24 May 2006, tidal creek, mostly salt. Length: 3 inches max. Photographer: Ian Buzzard.

Ian Buzzard

ian.buzzard@ntlworld.com

Buzzard, I.B., 2006 (Jul 17) Akera bullata swimming. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17136

Dear Ian,
This is an interesting observation which has rarely been reported. The animal is Akera bullata, which is a very primitive Sea Hare rather than a nudibranch [see Akeroidea Fact Sheet]. They have a bubble-shaped external shell and although they spend most of their time crawling or burrowing in fine mud on sheltered shores and bays, they can at time form swimming swarms, often in quite large numbers. Some say swarming is involved with breeding, while others say it is the juveniles that usually swarm, but basically this 'swarming - swimming' behaviour has not been studied in detail and only reported in the scientific literature 3 or 4 times, so it is not possible to say anything very sensible about it.  The drawing alongside is from Morton & Holme (1955) who report spawning and swimming from April-July in the English Channel coast. Theanimals swim rather awkwardly with their heavy (shelled) end hanging down, more like large heavy flying beetles, than bees. I haven't any photos of living Akera bullata, but it is quite similar in shape to Akera soluta from the Pacific.

  • Morton, J. E. and Holme, N. A. (1955) The occurrence at Plymouth of the marine opisthobranch Akera bullata, with notes on its habits and relationships. Journal of the Marine Biological Association, United Kingdom 34: 101-112

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Jul 17). Comment on Akera bullata swimming by Ian Buzzard. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17136

Factsheet

Akera bullata

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