Re: Thorunna punicea? from South Africa

March 21, 2007
From: Colin Ogden


Concerning message #19708:

Dear Bill,
Thanks for the response on the Thorunna punicea. I do not recall the nudibranch waving the edges of its mantle, but I did take 9 pictures of it and I am sending a copy of the first pic I took and the last pic (from a different angle). They all seem to have the same comsistent folds. It was stationary and not moving at all. I am also sending a picture of a nudi that I have also identified as a H. bullocki found on a different reef, but now I have doubts and it might also be a T. punicea.

Locality: Sodwana Bay, 19 metres, South Africa, Indian, July 2005, reef. Length: 20mm. Photographer: Colin Ogden.

Regards
Colin

scubaco@iafrica.com

Ogden C. M., 2007 (Mar 21) Re: Thorunna punicea? from South Africa. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19718

Dear Colin,
The animal in your lower photo does look like H. bullocki, and seems to have a narrower mantle than your first animal, but it would be a remarkable example of colour mimicry if the two were different. Of course I can't be sure that they are Thorunna punicea without some anatomical information, but I think that is the 'best guess' at present.

Concerning 'waving' - what I asked was did the gills wave, not the mantle. Most species of Thorunna have gills which rhythmically wave clockwise then anticlockwise in unison. The other thing I noticed in your lower photo is that the buccal bulb seems to be everted suggesting the animal is feeding. I suspect quite a bit of the background is a greyish brown sponge but I cant see it clearly enough. Its almost impossible the get both a slug and the background in focus at this magnification, but perhaps you have a photo in which the background is more in focus than the slug. If so it would be intersting to have a look at it
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Mar 21). Comment on Re: Thorunna punicea? from South Africa by Colin Ogden. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/19718

Factsheet

Thorunna punicea

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