Tritoniopsis frydis from Grenada

November 2, 2007
From: Jim Anderson


Dear Bill,

We were diving recently in Grenada and our guide, Paul Ward, found a small group of these animals. They were congregated on a dead branch covered in sponges etc. lying on the bottom among small corals and sponges. There were 5 that we could see, 2 with spawn - but those images were not in focus I'm afraid. Sea temperature 28 deg C.

Locality: Flamingo Bay, 15 m, Grenada, Caribbean Sea, 19 October 2007, debris among coral, sand and sponge growth. Length: 35 mm. Photographer: Jim Anderson.

Kind regards.
Jim Anderson

jander4454@gmail.com

Anderson, J, 2007 (Nov 2) Tritoniopsis frydis from Grenada. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21051

Dear Jim,

I guess species like this which are quite tightly tied to their food are not well adapted to dealing with catastrophes like their food source dying. Sponge-feeding dorids, or at least those that have been studies, seemed to be able to find their sponge food by using their rhinophores to 'smell' sponge chemicals in the water. It would be interesting to know whether aeolids or tritoniids, which are tied to particular cnidarians, have the same ability as adults. Certainly their free-swiming larvae have no trouble finding their food organism, so it would be interesting to know if that is the first and last chance they have of finding a colony that will last them until they produce the next generation.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Nov 2). Comment on Tritoniopsis frydis from Grenada by Jim Anderson. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21051

Factsheet

Tritoniopsis frydis

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