Chelidonura varians - strange behavior

June 22, 2007
From: Erwin Kodiat

Concerning message #15560:

Hi Bill,
I observed a strange behavior of two Chelidonura varians I encountered in Sangalaki, East Borneo. Were they digging the hole on the sand? Was it for protection or feeding behavior? Thanks in advance.

Locality: Sangalaki Island, 15 meters, East Borneo, Sulawesi Sea, 28 May 2007, Sandy. Length: 3 cm. Photographer: Erwin Kodiat.

Erwin Kodiat

info@nudipixel.net

Kodiat, E., 2007 (Jun 22) Chelidonura varians - strange behavior. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20031

Dear Erwin,

Your photo reminds me of that great Olympic sport - 'synchronised swimming'!

This message follows on from your last which showed mating. In the close-up alongside I have slightly oversharpened your image so you can see that both animals have a mucous layer, filled with little white specks, wrapped around their heads. The white specks are eggs, and the animals are in the process of making their bubble-shaped egg mass which they anchor in the sand with a long mucous thread - which explains why you thought they were digging a hole. I have never seen a pair laying egg masses closely together like this, but I must say egg-laying it is not something I have seen often.

There is an earlier photo on the Forum of one laying an egg mass in an aquarium [message #9667] and photos of those of the related Philinopis taronga [message #11633] and Philinopsis cyanea [message #15333].

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Jun 22). Comment on Chelidonura varians - strange behavior by Erwin Kodiat. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20031

Factsheet

Chelidonura varians

Related messages

  1. Chelidonura varians - laying eggs in an aquarium.
    From: Kim Schrier, April 21, 2010
  2. Re: Chelidonura varians in aquarium
    From: Robin Jerome, December 3, 2009
  3. Re: Chelidonura varians in aquarium
    From: Bill Brown, August 26, 2009
  4. Re: Chelidonura from Mayotte, Indian Ocean
    From: Sylvain Le Bris, January 30, 2009
  5. Re: Chelidonura varians in aquarium
    From: Beck None, October 7, 2008
  6. Chelidonura varians - mating behaviour
    From: Kamal El Tawil, September 19, 2007
  7. Philinopsis gardineri? from the Red Sea
    From: Dany Porras, July 26, 2007
  8. Chelidonura varians from Bali
    From: Danny Van Belle, January 26, 2007
  9. Chelidonura varians from sthn Queensland
    From: Ian Banks, May 4, 2006
  10. Mating Chelidonura varians
    From: Erwin Kodiat, January 16, 2006
  11. Chelidonura varians from Bali
    From: Erwin Kodiat, December 6, 2005
  12. Chelidonura varians mating
    From: Mary Jane Adams, February 14, 2005
  13. Chelidonura varians in aquarium
    From: tlp, December 4, 2003
  14. Chelidonura varians from Sabah, Malaysia
    From: Asther M. Lau, September 6, 2003
  15. Re: Chelidonura varians - shipping stresses?
    From: James Urquhart, June 25, 2003
  16. Re: Chelidonura varians - shipping stresses?
    From: James Urquhart, June 24, 2003
  17. Chelidonura varians - shipping stresses?
    From: James Urquhart, May 28, 2003
  18. Re: Chelidonura varians - trailing behaviour
    From: Roberto Sozzani, May 21, 2003
  19. Re: Chelidonura varians - trailing behaviour
    From: Roberto Sozzani, May 20, 2003
  20. Chelidonura varians - trailing behaviour
    From: Leanne & David Atkinson, May 19, 2003
  21. Chelidonura varians egg laying
    From: Joe Yaiullo, April 22, 2003
  22. Chelidonura varians - larval culture
    From: Joe Yaiullo, April 9, 2003
  23. Chelidonura varians from Lord Howe Island
    From: W.B. Rudman, January 9, 2003
  24. Chelidonura varians - Mabul Island, Malaysia
    From: Richard Houghton, September 3, 2002
  25. Aquarium flatworm control
    From: Victor Hernandez, April 3, 2002
  26. Chelidonura varians from Indonesia
    From: Stuart Hutchison, March 9, 2002
  27. Re: Slug to control photosynthetic flatworms
    From: Patrick Webb, March 9, 2002
  28. Re: Slug to control photosynthetic flatworms
    From: Mark, January 25, 2002
  29. Re: Need Slug that will help with Flatworms
    From: joe, September 7, 2001
  30. Slug to control photosynthetic flatworms
    From: Darrell Gibson, September 7, 2001
  31. Need Slug that will help with Flatworms
    From: D. Scott Morrison, June 17, 2001
  32. Juvenile Chelidonura from SE Sulawesi
    From: Lindsay Warren , June 13, 2001
  33. Planaria-eating nudibranch?
    From: Drew Dram, April 2, 2001
  34. Chelidonura feeding observations
    From: Julian Sprung, December 22, 2000
  35. Re: Where to get Chelidonura varians
    From: Scott Crumpton, June 10, 2000
  36. Re: Where to get Chelidonura varians
    From: Gary J. Robinson, February 14, 2000
  37. Re: More on Chelidonura feeding
    From: Cory Pittman, February 8, 2000
  38. A nudibranch that eats Flat Worms
    From: john, December 10, 1999
  39. control of flatworms in marine aquarium
    From: Roger, May 29, 1999
  40. Red flatworm-eating Sea Slug
    From: pat, April 14, 1999
  41. Re: Where can I get Chelidonura varians?
    From: Donna Stimetz, March 29, 1999
  42. Where can I get Chelidonura varians?
    From: Paul Hranitz, November 30, 1998
  43. Chelidonura feeding
    From: Davide & Giovanni, October 14, 1998
  44. Reference for Chelidonura feeding
    From: Davide Giovine, October 8, 1998
  45. More Chelidonura feeding
    From: Cory Pittman, October 7, 1998
  46. Re: Chelidonura feeding
    From: Peter Firminger, September 18, 1998
  47. Chelidonura feeding
    From: Davide & Giovanni, September 8, 1998

Show factsheet and all related messages