Hypselodoris bullocki feeding - or at least tasting

July 31, 2006
From: Brian Francisco

Hi Bill

I seem to remember a comment you made recently about the difficulty in discerning feeding behaviours unless the animal is actually seen biting into something. We saw this H. bullocki   feeding today and thought I'd snap a few photos to send to you. Now my problem is that I'm not exactly sure what the animal bit into. And it was more like a taste...two bites and off again to find something more appetizing.

Locality: Tasi Tolu, 13 meters, East Timor, Banda Sea, 30 July 2006, coral rubble. Length: 3 cm. Photographer: Brian Francisco.

The following photos are in sequence of a few seconds.

Brian
www.uwet.com

uwet.blogspot@gmail.com

Francisco, B., 2006 (Jul 31) Hypselodoris bullocki feeding - or at least tasting. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17283

Dear Brian,
Nothing's ever simple! I am pretty sure that Hypselodoris bullocki feeds only on the dysideid sponges of the genus Euryspongia. The purplish object is a small sponge colony and from its general shape I would say it could well be a dysideid. However I can't see enough detail to be sure. If you look on the Fact Sheet, and the recent message [#16260] from the Poppes, you'll see that Euryspongia has a very characteristic arrangement of fibres.

As to the animal not staying to finish the meal. I suspect it was not so much the sponge that was not to its taste but the 'wildlife' on the sponge. In the close-up alongside you  can see at least one polychaete worm apparently disturbed by the nudibranch's presence. When sponge colonies are large they are often quite clean of other animals, but when they are small they are often home and or substrate to worms, crustacea and other invertebrates. Nudibranchs are often quite sensitive to pokes, prods, bites and even stings from other animals, and I suspect this may be the case here.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Jul 31). Comment on Hypselodoris bullocki feeding - or at least tasting by Brian Francisco. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17283

Factsheet

Hypselodoris bullocki - Page 3

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