Notobryon wardi? from Mexico
September 14, 2002
From: Ali Hermosillo
Dear Dr. Rudman,
I have found more specimens of the species we are thinking might be Notobryon wardi in previous messages. I have seen several animals, all during night dives and probably eating or hanging around the same hydroid Lytocarpus sp. where you can find Lomanotus vermiformis.
This is the first in situ picture I send you of Notobryon cf. wardi and I have been pretty surprised to see so many of them on this particular site at night, still, you can appreciate how cryptic a species it is.
Data: 52 feet deep, 12 mm long, Los Arcos, Bahia de Banderas, Pacific Coast of Mexico. August 17, 2002
Please note on the lower right photo that there is a tiny Notobryon on the Lytocarpus.
Ali
gueri25@hotmail.com
Hermosillo, A., 2002 (Sep 14) Notobryon wardi? from Mexico. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7943
Thanks Ali,
We often find that these hydroid feeders often occur in large numbers or scattered in ones or twos. I think it probably reflects the haphazard nature of their life history. If by chance a 'swarm' of veliger larvae stay together in the plankton then they are likely to metamorphose and settle on the same colony of the animal they feed on. If on the otherhand they spend their time in the plankton alone, then they are most likely to settle out of the plankton alone to spend a solitary life on their food. It is possible that other veligers may later settle on the same colony but I suspect good luck stories aren't that common in nature.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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