More questions about Protaeolidiella atra

October 18, 2002
From: Dong Bum, Koh

Dear Dr Bill,
Thanks a lot for your comments and suggestion that the morphological differences may be environmental adaptations. Howevere the colour of the rhinophores of Protaeolidiella atra are different in my photos posted your Forum. Is it possible for the rhinophores to change colour in the same species through environmental factors?
Best wishes,
Dong Bum, Koh

drkoh@seasee.co.kr

Koh, D.B., 2002 (Oct 18) More questions about Protaeolidiella atra. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/8166

Dear Dong Bum,
It is of course possible that I am quite wrong and there are two or perhaps three species involved in this Protaeolidiella complex. In your black animals the rhinophores appear black except for a transparent basal region. In your brown animals the rhinophores are essentially transparent. My interpretation of that is that the brown animals are lacking the black pigment found in the black animals. In some parts of the body this gives them the brown appearance, and in other parts, such as the rhinophores, it makes them transparent. If they are all one species, I don't know whether the colour difference is genetic or whether it is environmental. It is possible that the black pigment is derived from their food?

All I can say is that there is plenty of research that needs to be done,
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Oct 18). Comment on More questions about Protaeolidiella atra by Dong Bum, Koh. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/8166

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