Re: An alien? from Turkey

January 15, 2002
From: Kathe R. Jensen

Dear Baki and Bill,
I was very excited to see these pictures. It certainly looks like Elysia tomentosa, which would most likely make it a Lessepsian migrant, i.e. a species which migrated through the Suez Canal. Do you have any dense stands of Caulerpa nearby? E. tomentosa feeds exclusively on this algal genus. I know that another alien, Caulerpa taxifolia has been recorded from Turkey, and it would certainly be interesting to see what this Elysia can do to eradicate this alga. So, please keep an eye out for more specimens - and for the settling of larvae.

It is difficult to see the size of individual egg capsules on this photo, but I interpret that as evidence that they are small, and the larvae therefore planktotrophic. In a very similar species, the Caribbean Elysia subornata, the egg capsules are big and the larvae hatch as small crawling juveniles. It has been proposed by a French group of scientists (Prof. A. Meinesz and co-workers) to import this species to the Mediterranean for biological control. Now it seems to be proven that there is a very good possibility that it could migrate to the Red Sea and cause damage to the ecosystem there. Also, E. subornata has now been recorded from the Canary Islands, so it may be a question of time before it also enters the Mediterranean.

It might be interesting to make laboratory experiments on interspecific competition of E. subornata and E. (cf.) tomentosa to see if E. subornata is a superior competitor. Of course, now that E. (cf.) tomentosa is in the Mediterranean, lab. experiments on its feeding on Caulerpa taxifolia should also be made. Maybe - once again - nature has been proved to be more "clever" than people.

Greetings,
Kathe

jensen@ait.ac.th

Jensen, K. R., 2002 (Jan 15) Re: An alien? from Turkey. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5976

Thanks Kathe,
It is certainly an interesting find. Have you a photo of 'typical' E. tomentosa I could post on the Forum. At present all I have are photos of animals we aren't quite sure about.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Factsheet

Elysia tomentosa

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