Re: Chromodoris joshi - food sponge?
June 2, 2003
From: Ray Izumi
Dear Bill,
As to this specimen's location on the sponge in the picture, I can definitively say only this: when I first came across it, it was crawling along in the sand. As I filmed, it happened across the sponge, and immediately crawled into the position in the picture. I came back to the site about ten minutes later and it was still on the same small sponge. But it may have climbed on the sponge to escape stinging corals in the vicinity. I suppose all we could really conclude is that C. joshi does not dislike this species of sponge.
However, I did a little more hunting on the web and came across another picture, from the same area, of C. joshi perched on what appears to be the same species of sponge. There is an excellent photo of this at: http://slugsite.us/bow/nudwk114.htm
I will email the divemasters at Club Ocellaris, who see these frequently, and ask them to watch for further sightings.
Ray Izumi
izumirm@sprynet.com
Izumi, R., 2003 (Jun 2) Re: Chromodoris joshi - food sponge?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10077Thanks Ray,
I have had a look at the photo you mention on Mike Miller's site and agree the sponge looks very similar. Accumulating credible data on what these opisthobranchs eat is slow work, but it is certainly made easier when there are so many willing pairs of eyes around the world helping out.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Related messages
-
Chromodoris joshi from Bali
From: Mirjam Broos, February 13, 2008 -
Chromodoris joshi from Philippines
From: Nobuyasu Tamura, October 24, 2003 -
Re: Chromodoris joshi - food sponge?
From: Paul Whitehead, June 11, 2003 -
Chromodoris joshi from Philippines
From: Ray Izumi, May 27, 2003 -
Chromodoris joshi from the Philippines
From: Erwin Koehler, September 3, 1999 -
Chromodoris joshi
From: Aloysia Murni Shintosari, September 10, 1998 -
Chromodoris joshi from Indonesia
From: Bill Rudman, September 10, 1998