Chelidonura flavolobata from the Red Sea

May 17, 2006
From: Kamal El Tawil


Hi Bill,
Another case of a white lobed Chelidonura flavolobota: In bottom photo there is a pair of animals a few inches apart; one with a white lobe and the other with a yellow lobe. I have taken several pictures of the animal moving slowly on the reef wall and living coral (msg #13357) where there is no sandy bottom.

Locality: Elphinstone Reef, Marsa Alam, 15 meters, Egypt, Red Sea, 02 May 2006, Deep reef wall. Length: 4 cms. Photographer: Kamal El Tawil.

best regards,
Kamal

kamal@coralworld.net

El Tawil, K., 2006 (May 17) Chelidonura flavolobata from the Red Sea. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16556

Dear Kamal,
Thanks for the shot of the two animals with different coloured lobes. What is quite inyersting about your photos is the animals crawling over live coral colonies. It was photos like this of C. inornata and C. electra in the Indo-West Pacific crawling over large coral colonies that gave rise to the story that Chelidonura ate corals or at least coral mucus - a myth that appeared in a number of colour picture books on coral reefs. We now know that many species feed on small flatworms so it is possible their attraction to  coral colonies is because of the presence sometimes,  of swarms of flatworms on corals.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (May 17). Comment on Chelidonura flavolobata from the Red Sea by Kamal El Tawil. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16556

Factsheet

Chelidonura flavolobata

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