Dextral egg spirals in Melibe australis

March 6, 2003
From: Irina Roginskaya

Dear Bill,
Thank you for beautiful photos of dextral spawns of Melibe from the Southern Hemisphere! Are the spirals really dextral? The photo is not turned over?
Irina.

irina7@hotmail.com

Dear Irina,
I have checked the slides and my field notes and yes the egg ribbon does spiral dextrally. Here are a couple more photos of the same eggs, in the upper photo there is a third distintegrating [mature?] egg mass in the right foreground. The egg ribbons had a diam of approx 7mm.

Arrawarra Rock platform, Woolgoolga, northern New South Wales. 3 Dec 1990 At Low Water Spring. AM C164561. Photos: Bill Rudman

I must confess I had not noticed the dextral coiling. Certainly an interesting observation. It got me hunting for other photos of Melibe egg ribbons. I have found one of Melibe engeli which also spirals dextrally!
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Mar 6). Comment on Dextral egg spirals in Melibe australis by Irina Roginskaya. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/9317

Factsheet

Melibe australis

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