Cuthona fulgens? from California
September 29, 2005
From: Dr. Steve Lonhart
Hello,
On September 15, 2005 I was diving in Point Lobos State Reserve, California, USA. I photographed a hydroid (possibly Sertularella turgida) and after downloading the images noticed slugs laying egg cases.
Locality: Point Lobos State Reserve, California, USA. Depth: 60 ft. Length: 'A few mm'. 15 September 2005. Subtidal rocky reef. Photographer: Steve Lonhart
I've clipped the original photo in the hopes that you can ID the slug in question. Is it Cuthona fulgens? Depth was about 60 ft on a steep rocky reef, high water flow, and tremendous invertebrate cover.
Thanks!
Steve
lonhart@biology.ucsc.edu
Lonhart, S.I., 2005 (Sep 29) Cuthona fulgens? from California. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14852Dear Steve,
I would look forward to some confirmation from local experts, but I think this is probably Cuthona lagunae. I don't have a photo of C. fulgens on the Forum (contributions welcome!) but the most obvious difference is that C. lagunae has orange rhinophores and C. fulgens has white. In the inset I put in your photo, the rhinophores appear to be orange. Perhaps you could check that from your originals.
Also Jeff Goddard [message #2697] reports that C. lagunae feeds exclusively on Sertularella turgida, which fits with your hydroid identification. The only feeding record for C. fulgens is the hydroid Sarsia sp. (see Goddard, 1985).
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Goddard, J. H. R. 1985b. Food habits of some nudibranchs from Cape Arago, Oregon. Western Society of Malacologists Annual Report, 17: 9-10.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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