Tethys fimbria from Croatia

Dear Tibor,
During my recent trip to Europe I visited both Hungary and Croatia. You certainly live in a most beautiful part of the world.

This is indeed a Tethys which has lost its ceratal lobes. All that remains are the large rhinophoral stalks or sheaths, the flap around the genital opening. and the small branched gills which sit at the base of each ceratal lobe. The actual rhinophore in these animals is very small compares to the size of the animal. I guess a chemosensory organ, like the rhinophore, is fairly superfluous in an animal that senses it food by using the small tentacular papillae along the edge of its oral hood to find small crustacea in the sand.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman