Nudibranch or Flatworm from Hawaii
March 11, 2003
From: Pauline Jacobson
I photographed this nudibranch or flatworm in Maui, Hawaii at the Turtle Town dive site in Waialea, November, 2001 at approx 20 ft. on a sandy bottom.
Can you please identify it? I have not been able to find any photos that are similar. There were many of them, they appeared to have gathered in large numbers to mate.
Pauline Jacobson
pauline@cdislands.com
Jacobson, P., 2003 (Mar 11) Nudibranch or Flatworm from Hawaii. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/9295Dear Pauline,
Your mystery animal is the sacoglossan sea slug Plakobranchus ocellatus. They are often found in quite dense populations but I don't know if they aggregate to mate. The sacoglossans feed by sucking the cell sap out of algae. Some, such as Plakobranchus ocellatus, keep the chloroplasts from the algae alive in their own bodies, where they continue to photosynthesise - converting the sun's energy into sugars. Have a look at the Solar-powered Sea Slug page for more information on this remarkable symbiosis.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Related messages
-
Plakobranchus ocellatus from Mayotte Island - 2d variation
From: Matthias Deuss, October 22, 2009 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus from Mayotte Island - 1st variation
From: Matthias Deuss, October 22, 2009 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus? from Bali
From: Supapong Areeprasertkul, October 27, 2008 -
Re: Plakobranchus ocellatus from Vietnam?
From: Hua Thai Tuyen, March 6, 2008 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus from the Philippines
From: Charles Raabe, August 15, 2006 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus from Vietnam?
From: Mike Krampf, July 13, 2006 -
Re: Plakobranchus ocellatus kind of mating
From: Rokus Groeneveld, February 2, 2006 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus kind of mating
From: Rokus Groeneveld, January 30, 2006 -
Re: Plakobranchus ocellatus variation
From: Rie Nakano, June 10, 2005 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus - variation F
From: Jun Imamoto, June 8, 2005 -
Plakobranchus variation - how many species?
From: Atsushi Ono, June 8, 2005 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus - variation A
From: Atsushi Ono, June 8, 2005 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus - variation B
From: Atsushi Ono, June 8, 2005 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus - variation C
From: Atsushi Ono, June 8, 2005 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus - variation D
From: Atsushi Ono, June 8, 2005 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus - variation E
From: Atsushi Ono, June 8, 2005 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus from Vanuatu
From: Hugh Dickson, February 20, 2004 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus from Malaysia
From: Asther M. Lau, October 3, 2003 -
Tom Wyatt's Plakobranchus message
From: Mary Middlebrook , January 18, 2003 -
Plakobranchus ocellatus in aquaria
From: Tom Wyatt, January 15, 2003 -
Plakobranchus from French Polynesia
From: Daniel Geiger, October 22, 2001 -
Plakobranchus from Thailand
From: Dave Harasti, December 27, 2000 -
Blue-bellied plakobranchs
From: Mary Jane Adams, June 14, 2000 -
Another species? of Plakobranchus
From: Lindsay Warren, March 25, 2000 -
Re: original description of Plakobranchus
From: Bill Rudman, January 25, 1999 -
Re: Plakobranchus mating
From: Erwin Koehler, January 25, 1999 -
Re: Placo- or Plakobranchus?
From: Richard Willan, January 4, 1999 -
Placobranchus mating behaviour
From: Erwin Koehler, December 30, 1998