Phyllodesmium kabiranum laying eggs

October 19, 2005
From: Mary Jane Adams

Hi Bill,
I found this Phyllodesmium kabiranum on the same divesite in Lembeh Strait as the one pictured in my 2002 message. However, this one is quite different in form and color, i.e. the cerata in the recent specimen are knobby and the dorsal midline stripe is yellow rather than white. It was laying a narrow ribbon of eggs in an irregular coil under a soft coral. It looks to me like this coral is different from the one pictured on your description page. If so, it may indicate that P. kabiranum preys on more than one species of Xeniid.

Locality: "Batu Sandar", Lembeh Island, Indonesia. Lembeh Strait. Depth: 10 meters. Length: 15 mm. 9 June 2005. Sand slope with patch reef. Photographer: M.J. Adams

Best regards,
Mary Jane

divepng@yahoo.com

Adams, M.J., 2005 (Oct 19) Phyllodesmium kabiranum laying eggs. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15012

Thanks Mary Jane,
Yes the colour and shape does seem a bit different - certainly hard to compare this animal to a bunch of rotten bananas! [message #7733]. It is good to get a photo of its egg ribbon. Concerning its food. It's hard to see from your photo just what the nature of the soft coral is. The colony seems to be in a bit of a twisted and tangled state so it is hard to see whether each of the polyps is attached to a communal 'trunk' as in earlier photos..
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Oct 19). Comment on Phyllodesmium kabiranum laying eggs by Mary Jane Adams. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15012

Factsheet

Phyllodesmium kabiranum

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