Trivia californica from the Channel Ids, California
August 5, 2003
From: Bruce Wight
Dear Bill,
Johanna and I saw lots of great natural behavior on last weekends dive trip out to San Miguel Island [Channel Islands National Park, California - July 2003]. Here is one of a series of messages showing some images I took during the two day trip.
This is a beautiful Trivia californica feeding on some type of sponge or tunicate.
Best wishes,
Bruce Wight
bwproductions@earthlink.net
Wight, B., 2003 (Aug 5) Trivia californica from the Channel Ids, California. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/10646
Dear Bruce,
Thanks for this great photo of Trivia. Although not a sea-slug it is certainly one of those 'snail groups' which get mistaken for slugs because they hide their shells so well. I have labelled a copy of your photo to illustrate a couple of the characteristic differences between opisthobranchs and other caenogastropod 'marine snails'. Firstly the eyes are associated with the head tentacles, on raised basal 'tubercle'. In opisthobranchs the eyes are always embedded in the skin or body wall. The second difference is the single median anterior siphon developed from a fold in the mantle. Opisthobranchs have no equivalent structure, although some groups have developed paired enrolled head tentacles to serve a similar function.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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