Halgerda batangas from the Solomon Ids
August 29, 2008
From: Barbara Hanchard
Hi Bill,
A joint submission by myself and Tamara Hartwich. Tamara's photo actually shows the egg ribbon bundled around the back of this Halgerda batangas and on my photo [upper ] you can actually see the secretion area beside the gills. I haven't looked through all the entries for this species on the Forum to see if egg laying has been covered in this species and I apologise if this entry is repetitious. This guy was one of two found within a meter of each other. Both very large (90 mm & 50 mm respectively) and probably the largest I have seen here in the Solomon Islands.
Locality: Tulagi Harbour, USS Minniapolis, 13 meters, Florida Islands, Solomon Islands, Pacific Ocean, 24 August 2008, Muddy slope. Length: 90mm. Photographer: Upper Photo: N.Barbara Hanchard ; Lower Photos: Tamara Hartwich.
Regards,
Barbara Hanchard & Tamara Hartwich
barbara.hanchard@ffa.int
Hanchard, N.B., 2008 (Aug 29) Halgerda batangas from the Solomon Ids. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21833
Dear Barbara & Tamara,
I am afraid these animals are engaged in a bodily function which is not quite as romantic as egg-laying, but equally important. The white pellets in your photo and the yellow ones in Tamara's, are faecal pellets. In sponge-eating dorids the colour of the faeces is usually identical to that of the sponge they are feeding on. I may be quite wrong but there appears to be a white sponge at the front of your animal and yellow sponge just in front of Tamara's photo.
You might ask why the anus is found right in the centre of the circle of gills in dorids - it may seem wrong to have faeces so close to the delicate breathing apparatus. The close proximity of the gills and the anus is a leftover from the evolutionary past when slugs were shelled snails, and the gill, anus and kidney opened together in the mantle cavity. As the shape of the slug evolved, and the position of body openings changed, the anus, for some unknown reason, has retained a close link to the gill.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Related messages
-
Colour variation in Halgerda batangas
From: Marcel Tanke, October 1, 2008 -
Halgerda batangas from Indonesia
From: Marcel Tanke, October 1, 2008 -
Halgerda batangas from Southern Leyte, Philippines
From: Carrie Lo, September 19, 2008 -
Re: Halgerda batangas from the Solomon Ids
From: Barbara Hanchard, September 2, 2008 -
Halgerda batangas from Mabul
From: Kenneth Yong, April 18, 2008 -
Halgerda batangas from New Britain
From: Tony Armstrong, July 3, 2007 -
Halgerda batangas from the davao gulf
From: Carlos R. Munda, May 22, 2007 -
Is this Halgerda malesso?
From: Mirjam Broos, May 18, 2007 -
Halgerda batangas from Raja Ampat, Indoneisa
From: Erwin Kodiat, April 5, 2007 -
Halgerda batangas from Sipadan Island, Malaysia
From: Charles Rowe, June 13, 2006 -
Halgerda batangas from Papua New Guinea
From: Kawika Chetron, February 28, 2006 -
Re: Halgerda batangas from the Philippines
From: Asther M. Lau, December 10, 2003 -
Halgerda batangas from the Philippines
From: Erwin Koehler, August 13, 2003 -
Halgerda batangas from Malaysia
From: Francis & Pirjo Pellet, August 8, 2003 -
Halgerda batangas from Indonesia
From: Sabine Noack, September 19, 2002 -
Halgerda batangas from Malaysia.
From: Richard Houghton, September 11, 2002 -
Halgerda batangas from nth Sulawesi
From: Helmut Schirmböck, July 5, 2002 -
Re: Halgerda batangas? from Sulawesi
From: Shireen Fahey, October 5, 2001 -
Halgerda batangas? from Sulawesi
From: Mary Jane Adams , September 20, 2001 -
Halgerda batangas? from Papua New Guinea
From: John Chuk, February 1, 2001 -
Halgerda batangas & H. carlsoni from Solomon Ids
From: Bruce Potter, January 3, 2001 -
Halgerda batangas from the Solomon Ids
From: Mary Jane Adams, December 24, 2000 -
Halgerda sp. 1. from the Philippines
From: Bernard Picton , March 3, 2000 -
Re: Halgerda sp. 1. from the Philippines
From: C Carlson & P J Hoff, March 3, 2000 -
Halgerda sp. 1 from Great Barrier Reef
From: Jacquie Sheils , May 8, 1999 -
Comparing Halgerda carlsoni & H.malesso
From: Erwin Koehler, February 3, 1999