Mystery from the Everglades, Florida, USA

July 18, 2008
From: Sophia Floyd

Hello Bill,
I very much enjoyed your Sea Slug Forum website. We found this
nudibranch in the Everglades [Florida, USA] last year and have been unable to identify it.

It is beautiful in its form and it's loops are apparently unusual. It is
about 6 cm long. We photographed it and let it go. Do you have any
information on it? My 10 year daughter found it. She is passionate about
insects.

Sophia Floyd
Denver, Colorado, USA

david.floyd@comcast.net

Floyd, S., 2008 (Jul 18) Mystery from the Everglades, Florida, USA. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21715

Dear Sophia,

This is an aeolid nudibranch, which are commonly known as 'sea slugs'. It is  Spurilla neapolitana which was first described across the Atlantic, in the Mediterranean. As you will see from earlier messages on the species it is quite variable in colour, which may be a result of the different coloured sea anemones it feeds on. The 'loops' you mention are unique structures called cerata, found only in aeolids. They contain branches of the animal's digestive system, and at their tips they have a special sac [cnidosac] which contains stinging cells [nematocysts] which they steal from the sea anemones they feed on. In your photos the cerata are lying 'at rest' but when disturbed the animal can straighten them - with the stinging cells at the tip - as a protective measure.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2008 (Jul 18). Comment on Mystery from the Everglades, Florida, USA by Sophia Floyd. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21715

Factsheet

Spurilla neapolitana

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