Notodoris minor - mating & egg-laying
February 6, 2000
From: Mary Jane Adams
Dear Bill,
Here are some images for your Notodoris minor page.
UPPER: Mating pair in a rubble patch on a coral reef, Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. Divesite: "Black and Silver", depth 10 meters. Nov. 21, 1995
LOWER: Egg laying at 10 meters. "Peer's Reef", Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, March 23, 1998. All the N. minor I have seen are exactly the shade of yellow and their eggs are an exact match.
Best regards,
Mary Jane Adams
mjadams@earthlink.net
Dear Mary Jane,
Thanks for these great photos. I have posted the feeding photo you also sent, as a separate message.
For those of you not familiar with nudibranch anatomy, they are hermaphrodites with both male and female equipment. The common genital opening is on the right anterior side of the body. When mating, or preparing to mate, the two partners have their right sides together, which they are doing in the upper photo.
These photos also show the very characteristic shield or flap of tough skin which arches over the gills protecting them from view, presumably reinforcing the sponge-like look of the animal and hising the gills from potential predators.
Bill Rudman.
Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Feb 6). Comment on Notodoris minor - mating & egg-laying by Mary Jane Adams. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1848Related messages
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