Trapania maculata with eggs

Dear Dom.,

We haven't that much information on the eggs of Trapania, but the photo we have of the egg mass of T. benni [message #5992] suggest the white spots in your photo could be egg-sized, and the way they are arranged certainly looks like the egg-ribbon after it is deposited. However the ovo-testis - where the eggs and sperm are produced forms a thin layer over the digestive gland just where the white spots are in your photo. Usually the eggs travel down to the female genital opening in a single string and are fertilised on the way. They are not surrounded in the mucous jelly and arranged into the tubular cluster of eggs until they are about to be deposited. Either your animal is doing something very strange or what we can see is just an illusion. Perhaps what we can see are the eggs in the ovotestis and the apparent clear lines between them, which give the impression we are looking at a coiled tube of eggs, are blood vessels in the ovotestis.

Its an interesting photo. Any other interpretations would be welcome

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman