Polycerid from South Carolina, USA

July 6, 2000
From: Anne DuPont


Hi Bill,
How are you and things at the museum? Been on any good trips lately? I was diving off the coast of South Carolina (USA) and found this tiny nudibranch that I cannot identify.  From my (poor) photos, can you identify it?
Date:  May 5, 2000
Location:  A shipwreck 6 miles off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA
Depth:  60 feet
Water temp:  64 degrees
The size of the nudibranch was about 1/2 inches long.
The Color was brownish-red, (but more brown than red.) He was crawling around on hydroids and soft corals on top of the wreck and
was quite active.

Thank you again for all your help, and for the great Forum.

Cordially,
Anne DuPont
Delray Beach, Florida (USA)

adupont@gate.net

DuPont, A., 2000 (Jul 6) Polycerid from South Carolina, USA. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2651

Dear Anne,
It's winter here at the moment and I am afraid I haven't had a chance to escape north to the sun.

Your animal is a polycerid of some sort, possibly a species of Palio. There are two species I know of that live right around the north Atlantic from USA to Europe.

One is Palio dubia (M. sars, 1829) ( = Polycera lessoni; Polycera modesta) and the second is Palio nothus (Johnson, 1838) ( = Polycera ocellatus). It doesn't seem quite right for either of those so we will see if Terry Gosliner, or someone else with experience of the east coast fauna can help.

The 'weedy' growths your animal is on are arborescent bryozoans on which it is probably feeding.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Jul 6). Comment on Polycerid from South Carolina, USA by Anne DuPont. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2651

Factsheet

Unidentified - North America (East Coast)

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