Phyllidia ocellata feeding on orange sponge

November 11, 2008
From: Hugues Flodrops

Hi Bill,
Here are two Phyllidia ocellata feeding on the same sponge, who were found by Sandrine Flodrops. I need your help to confirm the genus of this sponge, maybe Tethya?

Locality: Sec Jaune, Saint-Leu, 15 metres, Reunion Island, Indian Ocean, 3 November 2008. Length: 45 and 30 mm. Photographer: Hugues Flodrops.

Thanks and regards.
Hugues.

hugues.flodrops@wanadoo.fr

Flodrops, H., 2008 (Nov 11) Phyllidia ocellata feeding on orange sponge. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22020

Dear Hugues,

Thanks for the photo. A number of species of phyllidiid have been reported to feed on various species of orange sponge, most of which are members of the Order Axinellida. Unfortunately most sponges are difficult to identify just from photos, especially those with skeletal spicules. Certainly there are species of Tethya which have a similar shape to your sponge colony but I suspect your sponge is encrusting over a dead coral skeleton, and if so its shape is a result of the underlying substrate.

I suspect the sponge is an axinellid, but that's just because P. ocellata has been reported feeding on the orange Higginsia massalis by Dave Brunckhorst (1993).

  • Brunckhorst, D.J. (1993) The systematics and phylogeny of Phyllidiid Nudibranchs (Doridoidea). Records of the Australian Museum, Supplement 16: 1-107.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2008 (Nov 11). Comment on Phyllidia ocellata feeding on orange sponge by Hugues Flodrops. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22020

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