Flabellina trophina ? from Japan

July 19, 2006
From: Yasuhiro Shamoto

Hello, Dr.Rudman
I have found this animal at Echizen coast, Fukui Pref.,  Japan.
I think this is Flabellina trophina. I would be grateful for any comment.

Locality: Echizen-coast, Fukui-Pref, 5m, Japan, 17 May 2006, on the stone. Length: approx 10mm. Photographer: Yasuhiro Shamoto

Yours sincerely
Yasuhiro Shamoto

.

yasunao515@cyber.ocn.ne.jp

Yasuhiro Shamoto, 2006 (Jul 19) Flabellina trophina ? from Japan. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17155

Dear Yasu,
It certainly looks quite like F. trophina, and since it is now known from the Russian coast, its presence in Japan would not be surprising. One thing that would be interesting to know is whether it has the strange 'snout-like' extension on the front of the head like we can see in a number of earlier messages [see top photo on Fact Sheet]. This seems to be unique to this species and is probably associated with its behaviour of feeding on tube worms. I have left quite a bit of the background in your photo because the brown clumps we can see all over the bottom look very like worm tubes, which could be another clue that this is F. trophina. 

The snout on the head seems to be changeable in shape, but perhaps you have another photo which shows it better? And can you remember if the brown clumps were worm tubes or not?

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Jul 19). Comment on Flabellina trophina ? from Japan by Yasuhiro Shamoto. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17155

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