Aglaja ocelligera on Squid Eggs

September 25, 2007
From: Dave Washburn

We found three of these tiny Aglaja ocelligera on a mass of squid eggs last week, and it prompted a question to which I do not have the answer: what were they doing there? Which is to say, what do they eat? Were they eating something on the eggs, were they eating the eggs themselves, or were they just passing through? I haven't been able to find any information about what a spotted aglajid's favorite food is, so I'm hoping someone here can enlighten me.

Locality: Illahee State Park, 25 feet, Washington, USA, Puget sound, 3 September 2007, Muddy bottom on squid egg mass. Length: 1/2 inch. Photographer: Dave Washburn.

Dave Washburn

dwashbur@nyx.net

Washburn, D.L., 2007 (Sep 25) Aglaja ocelligera on Squid Eggs. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20710

Hi Dave,
Interesting place to find this cephalaspid for sure. You are correct. Not a lot is known about the biology of the species, in fact I don't think we know what any species of this genus feeds on. Other aglajids are carnivores so it is possible this one is looking for polychaete worms or flatworms but that is just a guess.

Thanks for sharing this,
Dave Behrens

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Sep 25). Comment on Aglaja ocelligera on Squid Eggs by Dave Washburn. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20710

Factsheet

Aglaja ocelligera

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