Aglaja tricolorata 'trailing'

Dear Dom,

As I discuss on the Fact Sheet, manyy sea slugs exhibit this 'trailing' behaviour. There are photos of at least three aglajids doing this in Forum messages [ Chelidonura varians, Chelidonura inornata, Chelidonura punctata] and we know that Navanax inermis does as well. In all these cases there is no direct evidence of mating so all we can say is that they seem to be following the mucus trail of the lead animal.

There are also a couple of examples of the Forum  of species of Chelidonura forming mating chains - Chelidonura livida [#8036] , and C. punctata [#16512], a behaviour similar to that observed in Sea Hares [see Mating Chains Fact Sheet]. I have personal experience of another aglajid, Melanochlamys cylindrica, forming mating chains, with up to 5 or 6 animals linking head to tail. This did not seem to be a normal behaviour but when groups of  animals were kept in close proximity - in an aquarium or jar - they would quickly begin mating head to tail in long chains.

I can't see any evidnce of mating in your animals so I assume the 'follower' is just attracted to the lead animals mucus trail.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman