Is this Nembrotha? climbing into a Tridacna
March 9, 2006
From: Pasquale Pascullo
I found this unknown climbing around the shell and then into the clam. I thought that was chancy if the clam closed up. He seemed real smart though, as when he got high on the shell, he stopped, look up and around and when he lent over, he was very cautious. At times, it seemed he didn't want to enter. Looking for food may be?
Locality: Pemba Islands, 7-8 mtrs, Tanzania, East Coast Africa, west Indian Ocean, Feb 08 '06, hard mixed reef rocks/sand. Length: 2 inches. Photographer: Pasquale Pascullo.
Pasquale
pp@ppfotos.com
Pascullo, P., 2006 (Mar 9) Is this Nembrotha? climbing into a Tridacna. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16015
Dear Pasquale,
Probably not a good move for the nudibranch. When observing nudibranch behaviour it is hard not to give them human attributes, but I don't think they are big on risk assessment even if that is what it looked like.
This is a species I first called Nembrotha sp. 14, but later, against the advice of Bernard Picton, decided was most probably a colour form of Nembrotha milleri. Like Bernard, I still have my doubts. Untill someone has to compare the anatomy of the two 'species' we can't be sure.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Related messages
-
Nembrotha milleri from Verde Island (Philippines).
From: Vie Panyarachun, December 7, 2009 -
Nembrotha from Pemba, Tanzania
From: Andrew Sutton, April 4, 2008 -
Nembrotha milleri in Raja Ampat, Indonesia
From: Aaron Fink, March 6, 2007 -
Nembrotha milleri from Sipadan, Malaysia
From: Charles Rowe, July 21, 2006 -
Nembrotha milleri with orange spots?
From: Wilhelm van Zyl, May 10, 2006 -
Nembrotha milleri from East Timor
From: Nick Hobgood, February 23, 2006 -
Nembrotha milleri with red spots
From: Erwin Koehler, April 28, 2003 -
Nembrotha milleri? from Indonesia
From: Jim Bartlett, November 28, 2002 -
Nembrotha milleri from Mauritius
From: Marina Poddubetskaia, November 15, 2002 -
Re: Nembrotha milleri & Nembrotha sp 14
From: Bernard Picton, September 7, 2002 -
Nembrotha milleri from Malaysia
From: Richard Houghton, September 7, 2002 -
Nembrotha milleri from Malaysia
From: Kenneth, July 28, 2002 -
Re: Nembrotha milleri & Nembrotha sp 14
From: Dave Behrens, July 17, 2002 -
Nembrotha milleri & Nembrotha sp 14
From: Mary Jane Adams, July 14, 2002 -
Nembrotha milleri feeding
From: Erwin Koehler, June 12, 2002 -
Nembrotha milleri from Western Australia
From: Richard Hall, May 14, 2002 -
Nembrotha milleri feeding
From: Bernard Picton , May 13, 2002 -
Nembrotha from East Africa
From: Bernard Picton , May 13, 2002 -
Nembrotha milleri? from Malaysia
From: Paul Jambunathan, December 15, 2001 -
Nembrotha milleri from the Solomon Ids
From: Bruce Potter, December 3, 2001 -
Nembrotha milleri from Solomon Ids
From: Bruce Potter, April 7, 2001 -
Nembrotha milleri from Solomon Ids
From: Mary Jane Adams, August 2, 2000