Re: Philine auriformis on the California coast

June 12, 1998
From: Michelle Chow

Thanks for your email. I thought I would let you know what I have been finding out so far about Philine up and down the Calif coast (perhaps you already know this stuff). Most of this information is word of mouth, some based on data and some just based on impressions. Philine is as far north as Bodega Bay and far south as San Diego (perhaps farther). I am finding Philine on the intertidal mudflats where as in San Diego off the coast they are finding Philine at depths of 20m to 305m with most individuals between 61-137m. Currently no one seems to be able to find predators of Philine (I guess they just taste too bad).

Just in the past two days, I have found hundreds of Philine in Bodega harbor (Bodega Bay) so it would seem I have plenty of animals to work with. I will send you results of my experiments and would love it if they were posted on the web site. Since I am also very active in education, I would hope that people could email me to ask questions about Philine and invasions in general. Please let me know how else I can help contribute to this public education.

Thanks again. I appreciate the time you have taken to respond to my emails. Hopefully at some point I will save enough pennies to take a trip to New Zealand and check things out for myself. (although I have heard that it might take quite a few pennies. Oh well).
Cheers
Michelle Chow
Bodega Marine Laboratory
P.O. Box 247
Bodega Bay, CA 94923
USA

mbond@ucdavis.edu

Chow, M., 1998 (Jun 12) Re: Philine auriformis on the California coast. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/93

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