Age determination of Aplysia punctata

February 18, 2005
From: Marta K. Soffker

Dear Dr. Rudman,
I am with the LEMAR laboratories in Brest, France at the moment. I have found last week off the Bay of Brest several specimen of (presumably) A. punctata of about 25 cm length and about 10 cm width; just next to very small specimen who did not even reach 2 cm. I have only taken one big animal along into the aquarium; unfortunately, it died after four days.
Before I remove it, I would however like to get as much information as possible; unfortunately, I am the only one in the region to be involved in research on this species; the bibliography I have found dates back to the 70's, and I have not yet found a method to determine the age of the animal.

I would be very grateful if you could help me.

Sincerely,
Marta K. Soffker

MKSoeffker@aol.com

Soffker, M.K., 2005 (Feb 18) Age determination of Aplysia punctata . [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13113

Dear Marta,
Determining the age of sea slugs by size does not seem to be very simple. From the research I have read size and rate of growth often depends on external factors such water temperature on food availability. So one animal, 4 months old may bea  relatively small length of  x cm, because it has found  little food to eat, while another animal of similar size, may be only 2 months old because it has an abundant source of food.

Most life history studies try to follow groups of animals through their life cycle, rather than measuring single individuals. The only one I know of Aplysia punctata is a study by Michael Miller in the Isle of Man. It was published in 1960 but in terms of animal evolution I don't think the species will have changed much in 40 years.  You mention an animal of 25 cm. This is extremely large Aplysia punctata. If it is correctly identified, Miller's work would suggest your animal was a rare individual that has lived into a second year.

  • Miller, M.C. (1960) A note of the Life History of Aplysia punctata Cuvier in Manx waters. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London, 34: 165-167.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Feb 18). Comment on Age determination of Aplysia punctata by Marta K. Soffker. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13113

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Aplysia punctata

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