Leminda millecra - feeding record

October 16, 2003
From: Charles Rowe

Hi Bill,
We managed to get a dive in on Saturday but the vis was miserable only 2-3 metres so my nose was stuck to the reef. Fortunately I managed to get some really good photos including the ones below. All were taken on
11 October 2003 at Whitesands, Port Elizabeth [South Africa] at 14 metres.

This one is of a nudi I don't think I have sent to you before. This one was quite large maybe 500 - 600mm in length.

By the way I use an Olympus C4000z in an Olympus housing with Ikelite DS 50 and TTL sensor. We missed out on another dive on Sunday which had 10 to 15 metres
vis which is exceptional for Port Elizabeth but never mind we will be doing the same spot Gasmic this weekend with a bit of luck. Lots of nudis there as well so
expect more photos:-)
See ya.
Charles...

bumff@mweb.co.za

Rowe, C., 2003 (Oct 16) Leminda millecra - feeding record. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11245

Thanks Charles,
This is Leminda millecra which is only known from temperate South Africa. If you look at my earlier message we still are not sure what this species feeds on - though at 60cm it is clearly eating something quite obvious. The circumstantial evidence is that it could be feeding on both a soft coral Alcyonium fauri and a gorgonian Leptogorgia palma.

I am pretty sure from your photo that this animal is feeding on the purple soft coral colony in your photo. If you look at the photo on the Fact Sheet you will see that the flap of tissue over the soft coral is not the foot but the oral veil. Also you will see a faint purplish-pink shadow in the nudibranch. This is the branching digestive gland and its colour matches the colour of the soft coral colony quite well. All in all I think you have discovered the food of this species. It would be nice to get this positively identified. It would also be nice to get some further records of it feeding to confirm the information, and also to check whether you ever find it on a gorgonian, which is its other possble food.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Oct 16). Comment on Leminda millecra - feeding record by Charles Rowe. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11245

Factsheet

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