Japonacteon suturalis found sthn Queensland

May 13, 2009
From: Gary

Concerning message #4587:

Hi Bill and everyone!
David and I have started out quest to find all the Bubble shells (hopefully with live animals) here in our area. We have raided the kitchen and taken only the finest sieve we could find.

We have been doing a lot of searching in the sand just off Bulwer beach Moreton Island and are finding new species every trip, and in places we would not expect! With each sieve of the fine white sand we are collecting many shells. Japonacteon suturalis is quite a surprise and there were two.

Locality: Moreton Island, 2.5 m, Queensland, Australia, Pacific Ocean, 09 May 2009, Subtidal. Length: 4 mm crawling. Photographer: Gary Cobb.

Cheers
Gary

gary@nudibranch.com.au

Cobb, G.C., 2009 (May 13) Japonacteon suturalis found sthn Queensland. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22458

Dear Gary,

Thanks for these photos. At less than 4 mm in length I think your fine seive is the only way you would have found these juveniles. Apart from the shell characters I mention on the Fact Sheet I can see one other external character in your photos which helps distinguish this from Pupa strigosa and Pupa solidula, which also have white shells with black spots. The anterior corners of the foot are extended into short tentacular processes. By comparison, the anterior foot corners in species of Pupa, are rounded. I have enlarged and over-brightened the front end of one of your photos to show this.

I always found these animals difficult to 'pose' for photographs on a smooth surface. They seem to miss the soft sand in which they usually live.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (May 13). Comment on Japonacteon suturalis found sthn Queensland by Gary. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22458

Factsheet

Japonacteon suturalis

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