Chelidonura electra in Papua New Guinea

January 29, 2000
From: Mary Jane Adams

Dear Bill,
Here is another shot of Chelidonura electra. It was taken on a coral reef in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, near Normanby Island, Nov. 17, 1995. I thought at the time that it was eating the polyps, but since reading your comments on the Forum, I learned that isn't true. In reviewing several photos, I can see that none of the polyps appears to be missing.
Thanks for the info!
Mary Jane

mjadams@earthlink.net

Adams, M.J., 2000 (Jan 29) Chelidonura electra in Papua New Guinea. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1786

Dear Mary Jane,
Thanks for the photo. Before the evidence arrived for them eating flatworms I used to look at all the photos of Chelidonura crawling over soft corals, massive hard corals and sponges, wondering what on earth they were doing there. A number of coral reef books have captions saying they eat coral polyps.

Now we know, it seems so clear. So many of these colonial animals have infestations of acoel flatworms that it is the obvious place to find flatworm feeders. It's great to know that the Sea Slug Forum was the catalyst that enabled us to discover what Chelidonura feeds on.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Jan 29). Comment on Chelidonura electra in Papua New Guinea by Mary Jane Adams. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1786

Factsheet

Chelidonura electra

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