Calliopaea bellula from Arcachon Bay

March 26, 2009
From: Marina Poddubetskaia Ossokine


Dear Bill,

In Arcachon Bay we have an interesting species, Calliopaea bellula. And as you don't seem to have it on the Forum, I'd like to share these photos with you.

To start, here are the photos of the animal and its own egg-ribbon. In the separate message [#22350 ] I will send the feeding behaviour of this species.

Locality: Audenge, Bassin d'Arcachon, 1 m, France, Atlantic Ocean, 09 October 2006, muddy with algae. Length: animal : 5mm / eggs : 3mm. Photographer: Marina Poddubetskaia.

Best wishes,
Marina.
Nembro website

nembro@yahoo.fr

Poddubetskaia Ossokine, M., 2009 (Mar 26) Calliopaea bellula from Arcachon Bay. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22349

Dear Marina,

Thanks for the wonderful photos in this and your following message. It's always intersting to get information on an animal that doesn't quite do what it is supposed to - in this case eat eggs rather than suck cell contents from algae.

This species was on the Forum, but I had followed Tom Thompson by placing it in the genus Stiliger, as Stiliger bellulus. I have discussed this with Kathe Jensen and because she considers the genera Stiliger and Calliopaea to be in desperate need of revision, I will follow her advice and revert to the original genus Calliopaea until more information is available. You will see from Bernard Picton's message 10 years ago [#680], this species also feeds on the eggs of Philine. As I discuss on the Fact Sheet, this raises the possibility that the small Calliopaea oophaga, which also feeds on opisthobranch eggs, is based on a juvenile of C. bellula. I guess these little puzzles just add to the fascination ..

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Mar 26). Comment on Calliopaea bellula from Arcachon Bay by Marina Poddubetskaia Ossokine. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22349

Factsheet

Calliopaea bellula

Related messages

  1. Calliopaea bellula feeding behaviour
    From: Marina Poddubetskaia Ossokine, March 26, 2009
  2. Stiliger bellulus an egg-eating sacoglossan
    From: Bernard Picton, March 16, 1999

Show factsheet and all related messages