Hypselodoris jacksoni from sthn Queensland

August 29, 2007
From: David Mullins

Dear Bill,
I thought you & the forum readers might be interested in a record from southern Queensland, Australia of the newly described species Hypselodoris jacksoni Wilson & Willan, 2007.

This species is very common here on the Gneering Shoals and around Old Woman Island (Mudjimba Island) on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. We see it on just about every dive and we dive every weekend. I have included photos of feeding and the upper photo the oral tube can just be observed on the right side of the left specimen and the feeding track on the siliceous sponge is also evident. Additionally the lower image shows an aggregation that might be feeding (the nearest thing to a nudibranch "feeding frenzy" perhaps).

Upper Photo:   Locality: Old Woman Island, Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia, Pacific Ocean. Depth: 10 metres, Length: 32 mm & 20 mm,
30 December 2006. Lower Photo:  "Castle Rock", Gneering Shoals, Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, Pacific Ocean. Depth: 18 metres, Length: 20 mm, 01 August 2004, Photographer: David Mullins. [middle photos are close-ups from other two]

I have more images following in a 2nd message [#20575 ].

Regards,
David Mullins
(long time reader 1st time sender)

david@nudibranch.com.au

Mullins,D.A., 2007 (Aug 29) Hypselodoris jacksoni from sthn Queensland. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20572

Dear David,
It may be your first message, but I hope it's not your last. It's not often we get all this biological information so quickly for a species only a few days old.

The white network in the sponge in the upper photo is not, as you thought,  made of siliceous spicules, but is the very characteristic network of spongin fibres found in the dysideid genus Euryspongia. Species of Hypselodoris, and other chromodorids, feed on sponges which lack skeletal spicules. Your observations are very interesting because quite a few of the 'high profiled' species of Hypselodoris feed on Euryspongia. The spiderweb-like tangle of fibres all over your lower photo are part of the sponge colony's remains, showing just how much of the colony these nudibranchs have consumed.

This is a valuable contribution to our knowledge.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Aug 29). Comment on Hypselodoris jacksoni from sthn Queensland by David Mullins. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20572

Factsheet

Hypselodoris jacksoni

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