Chromodoris quadricolor and the cowrie

November 27, 2007
From: Vittorio Bruzzone

During my diving I took several pictures of Chromodoris quadricolor. I found a relationship between this amazing creature and a species of the snail Cypraea... Observing my photo sequence and the others pics, now I'm curious to know if my observation is correct.
Seems that shell has been delivered by Chromodoris.

Locality: Jeddah, 10 meters, Saudi Arabia, Red Sea, 19 November 2007. Length: 30 mm. Photographer: Vittorio Bruzzone.

Thanks for your reply...
Vittorio Bruzzone

vittorio@bruzzone.it

Bruzzone, V., 2007 (Nov 27) Chromodoris quadricolor and the cowrie. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21197

Dear Vito,

I know that for thousands of years the Middle East has been the home of miracles but I don't thinks we need a miracle to explain the apparent production of the cowry [Cypraea sp] by the Chromodoris. In the large photos you sent there were quite a few of this species of Cypraea associated with the grey sponge. To show more detail I have cropped most of the background so in your post we can only see a couple of them close-up. Surprisingly the available information on the biology of cowries is quite limited, some are said to be herbivorous and some are thought to eat sponges. I suspect the species you have found is feeding on the dark grey sponge which fills much of the background of your photos. It is a species of Semitaspongia [Fam: Thorectidae]. In your 1-3 sequence above, I suspect the cowrie was feeding on the sponge and hidden beneath an overhanging ledge in photos 1-2, only becoming visible in photo 3.

What is exciting to me about your message, is not the cowrie, but the grey sponge on which Chromodoris quadricolor is also feeding. If you look at Kamal el Tawil's earlier message [#20150]  this is a very interesting observation because previously C. quadricolor had always been associated with a bright red, unrelated sponge of the genus Negombata. Your observation  is a valuable confirmation that C. quadricolor feeds on Semitaspongia as well as Negombata

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Nov 27). Comment on Chromodoris quadricolor and the cowrie by Vittorio Bruzzone. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21197

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