Flabellina verrucosa - odd food choice?

April 18, 2005
From: Alan Shepard

Dear Bill -

Greetings from New England! I had a very successful dive the other day at Folly Cove in Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA. In a rather short period of time I encountered nine different nudibranch species in the chilly (5C) water.

One individual I found particularly interesting. This Flabellina verrucosa, the most common nudibranch in the cove, was feeding on what appeared to be some type of amphipod. Being so small it was hard to tell while underwater and I took the enclosed photo just to be sure. I fairly certain it is indeed feeding on an amphipod. McDonald and Nybakken's site does not seem to list amphipods on F. verrucosa 's diet but I'm no expert on scientific names and could have missed something. Do you agree that it is feeding on an amphipod? If so do you think it actually caught an amphipod or did it scavenge an already dead amphipod?

Locality: Folly Cove, Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA. Atlantic Ocean.
Depth: 7 meters. Length: 16 mm. 9 April 2005. boulder covered shoreline. Photographer: Alan Shepard

There's always something new to find in the world of Northwest Atlantic nudibranchs.

Best wishes,
Alan Shepard
Tolland, CT, USA

alan.chepard@snet.net

Shephard, A.D., 2005 (Apr 18) Flabellina verrucosa - odd food choice?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13512

Dear Alan,
It certainly looks like a crustacean of some sort. Certainly some glaucids, such as a Austraeolis ornata and Hermissenda crassicornis are known to eat the odd bit of carrion, but I haven't heard of species of Flabellina doing this. It certainly seems an interesting observations for someone to follow up.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Apr 18). Comment on Flabellina verrucosa - odd food choice? by Alan Shepard. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13512

Factsheet

Flabellina verrucosa

Related messages

  1. Re: Flabellina verrucosa from British Columbia
    From: Jackie Hildering & Glen Miller, November 5, 2007
  2. Flabellina verrucosa in West Puget Sound
    From: Dave Washburn, September 15, 2007
  3. Flabellina verrucosa from Massachusetts
    From: Charlotte Richardson, August 18, 2007
  4. Flabellina verrucosa egg masses
    From: Jackie Hildering, March 26, 2007
  5. Flabellina verrucosa from British Columbia
    From: Bruce Wight, October 24, 2003
  6. Flabellina verrucosa from British Columbia
    From: Marli Wakeling, July 2, 2003
  7. Flabellina verrucosa from British Colunbia
    From: Marli Wakeling, June 27, 2003
  8. Flabellina verrucosa with short cerata
    From: Robert Eriksson, May 13, 2003
  9. Re: Flabellina? from Norway
    From: Jussi Evertsen, April 30, 2003
  10. Re: Flabellina? from Norway
    From: Kåre Telnes, April 30, 2003
  11. Flabellina? from Norway
    From: Kåre Telnes, April 25, 2003
  12. Flabellina verrucosa from Massachusetts, USA
    From: Alan Shepard, February 4, 2003
  13. Re: Flabellina verrucosa from British Columbia
    From: Marli Wakeling, July 25, 2002
  14. Flabellina verrucosa from British Columbia
    From: Wendy Atkinson, July 19, 2002
  15. Re: Cuthona punicea
    From: Sandra Millen, June 25, 2002
  16. Flabellina verrucosa from Massachusetts
    From: Paul Young, June 22, 2002
  17. Flabellina verrucosa with hydroids from Canada
    From: Marli Wakeling, April 6, 2002
  18. Flabellina verrucosa from British Columbia
    From: Marli Wakeling, March 23, 2002
  19. Flabellina verrucosa - photo of tail
    From: Bernard Picton , July 22, 2001
  20. Flabellina verrucosa from New England
    From: Paul Young, June 20, 2001
  21. Re: Flabellina verrucosa feeding on scyphistomae
    From: Bill Rudman, February 16, 2001
  22. Re: An aeolid from Massachusetts
    From: Chad Sisson, February 15, 2001
  23. Re: An aeolid from Massachusetts
    From: Alan Shepard, February 13, 2001
  24. Re: An aeolid from Massachusetts
    From: Chad Sisson, February 13, 2001
  25. Re: aeolids from Massachusetts
    From: Terry Gosliner, February 13, 2001
  26. An aeolid from Massachusetts
    From: Alan Shepard, February 10, 2001
  27. Flabellina verrucosa from Canada
    From: Marli Wakeling, December 20, 2000
  28. Brown form of Flabellina verrucosa
    From: Betsey Hansen, August 31, 1999
  29. Flabellina verrucosa from Maine
    From: Betsey Hansen, August 31, 1999
  30. Re: Flabellina verrucosa? from New York
    From: Terry Gosliner, August 29, 1999
  31. Flabellina verrucosa? off Long Island, NY
    From: Betsey Hansen, August 27, 1999

Show factsheet and all related messages