Doris sticta from Scilly Isles

September 30, 2009
From: David Kipling

Dear Bill,

Here is a picture of Doris sticta that Sarah Bowen and I found on the Isles of Scilly recently. It was in a rich sponge environment.

Locality:  Isles of Scilly, 49o 56.12 N 006o 15.59W, 25 m, United Kingdom, Atlantic, 1 May 2009, On a ledge in a steep rocky wall environment, a rich silty mixed sponge environment.. Photographer: David Kipling.

Do you have any clue as to what this species eats? I presume some type of sponge given the shape of the animal. The dark coloured spiky object that the animal is crawling over is in fact a very large holothurian, which made the nudibranch very easy to spot!

Best regards
David Kipling

plankton@dircon.co.uk

Kipling, D., 2009 (Sep 30) Doris sticta from Scilly Isles. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22610

Dear David,

Thanks for the record. I'm afraid this is another species we know little about. According to Picton & Morrow (2009) there is no information available on what it eats. Presumably it is a sponge-feeder but whether or not it specialises on a particular species we just don't know.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Sep 30). Comment on Doris sticta from Scilly Isles by David Kipling. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22610

Factsheet

Doris sticta

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