number of eggs

October 7, 2001
From: Jeanette McInnes

Dear Dr. Rudman,
Firstly, I love your site & read it as often as time permits.

22 - 29 Sept. I went to Osprey Reef [North Queensland, Australia]on board Nimrod, & did the nudibranch segment of the evening marine bio. talk. A guest asked me, "How many eggs do nudibranchs lay at a time?" for which I had no answer. Could you please answer this, so I'm not caught out again?

While on the trip I saw a nudibranch which doesn't figure in the Debelius nudibranch book. He had a jet black mantle with pinprick sized neon red specks and mauve rhinophores and (hexabranchial) gills. About 10m deep, water temp 27 degrees. Do you know which nudibrach he might be? Sorry, I only have a MX-5, which doesn't have macro capability, so I don't have a photo to show you. of average build (like a Chromodoris lochi in bulk) and about 4cm long. He was found doing his thing at Ribbon Reef #10, Great Barrier Reef.

Thank you in advance for your input.
Jeanette McInnes
Cairns, Qld.

jlmc01@ozemail.com.au

McInnes, J., 2001 (Oct 7) number of eggs. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5400

Dear Jeanette,
I sometimes surprise myself with how well the SEARCH facility works on the Forum. I thought someone had asked this question before so I typed in 'how many eggs' and found Mike's earlier message. Have a look at that. Basically it depends on which species you are asking about.

Concerning your mystery black nudibranch, I am not sure. I guess it could have been a colour form of Dendrodoris nigra, but without a drawing or a photo I can't be sure.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Oct 7). Comment on number of eggs by Jeanette McInnes. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5400

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