Sakuraeolis enosimensis - with parasite?

May 3, 2006
From: Rie Nakano


Dear Dr.Rudman,

The right side of this Sakuraeolis enosimensis ahs something attached to it. The photographer said he thought it was the egg mass of S.enosimensis.
I don't think so, but I don't know what is this.

Incidentally, there is nothing on the left side.

Locality: Suma yacht harbor, Kobe, -0.3m, Japan, Pacific ocean, 22 April 2006, Intertidal. Length: 40mm. Photographer: Suma Aqualife Park Volunteers.

Sincerely,
Rie Nakano

rie@divers.ne.jp

Rie Nakano, 2006 (May 3) Sakuraeolis enosimensis - with parasite?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16496

Dear Rie,
It is appropriate we have a question about Sakuraeolis now that its cherry blossom time in Japan as Dr Baba named the genus after the beauty of the cherry trees - sakura.

The swellings on the right side of the body in this species are a total mystery to me. If you look at earlier messages from Japan [#9038, #9150] and Korea [#14633] I have noted their presence before. In those cases it seemed to be associated with mating, but that doesn't seem to be the case with your animal. Yours is also the first time we can see that the swellings are apparently only on the right side of the animal, again suggesting a relationship with the reproductive system. It seems a bit too regular to be a parasitic infection. Usually when nudibranchs have parasites, the swellings are arranged haphazardly, and in different places in each animal.

As I have said before, I haven't seen such swellings in any other aeolid, including other species of Sakuraeolis, so I think this is a mystery that is only going to be solved by someone in Japan or other parts of the NW Pacific where this species occurs.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (May 3). Comment on Sakuraeolis enosimensis - with parasite? by Rie Nakano. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16496

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