Re: Tylodina fungina from California

September 5, 2005
From: James Lyle


Dr. Rudman,
I'm sending you some high resolution images of Tylodinia fungina that I took on a recent dive near Anacapa Island, California. Prior to this dive, I had only observed one other small individual of this species. At Cathedral Cove, in 15 metres of water, on top of a rocky reef, I found three large (3 cm) animals, all within an area of one square metre.

Locality: Cathedral Cove, Anacapa Island, California, USA. Pacific Ocean.
Depth: 15 metres, Length: 3 cm. 01 September 2005. rocky reef. Photographer: Jim Lyle

I looked for, but didn't observe any yellow sulfur sponge (Aplysina fistularis), their reported food source. In one of the images, you can see the branch eating a sponge, but it isn't the characteristic colour of A. fistularis.

You can see the light yellow crescent shaped gland under the front of the shell that you commented on in Chris Grossman's pictures [#14432 ].

I find the pointillistic pigmentation to be interesting.

Best,
Jim Lyle

jlyle@scubadiving.com

Lyle, J.L., 2005 (Sep 5) Re: Tylodina fungina from California. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14710

Dear Jim,
Thanks for the photos. Concerning the food sponge. I have no personal knowledge of Californian sponges but aome verongiids can have a dark brownish outer layer, as in this case, in fact the only way you know some of these sponges are yellow is to break them or have something bite them. The way the pigment is arranged in little spots is common to all species of Tylodina. The 'spots' may in fact be tiny glands or sacs storing defensive chemicals from the sponge. At times Tylodina can exude a thick whitish secretion from its skin which I have assumed comes from these little 'spots'.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Sep 5). Comment on Re: Tylodina fungina from California by James Lyle. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14710

Factsheet

Tylodina fungina

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