Handy Hints for finding Bulla quoyii

November 14, 2003
From: Paul Furneaux

Dear Bill,
In response to Audrey Falconer's (Sept 2nd) request for "handy hints" for finding Bulla quoyii, I've included some photos of the situation that I have often encountered on the harbour flats here in Tauranga, NZ. (Sorry its taken so long to respond)

Typically the animals that I have found have been associated with Zostera (eelgrass) and were always in the low tide zone that is uncovered by the tide for perhaps one-two hours at the most. They don't seem to burrow too deeply and the reason that I have found them is that they are either "half out" of the mud, a bit like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, so that the posterior part of the shell is visible, or the outline of the shell is visible because the depth of burrowing is so shallow.

I've also included a photo of one animal that I placed on some Ulva in daylight and after some time it made a move to crawl off the Ulva to escape the light and bury itself and in so doing emerged reasonably fully from its shell. One animal that I have maintained in a tank for a few weeks is extremely active at night and devours Enteromorpha ramulosa (a green alga that is reasonably common in Tauranga Harbour), but it seems to be uninterested in eating Ulva. [Photos were taken by me on 6-7 October, 2003].

I've continued to make observations on both Haminoea and Philinopsis and will send you some of these before too long. (I'm just in the process of writing up my work and will soon have to face up to the prospect of returning to the classroom)
Regards,
Paul Furneaux.

P.Furneaux@xtra.co.nz

Furneaux, P., 2003 (Nov 14) Handy Hints for finding Bulla quoyii. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11404

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