Re: Peltodoris atromaculata with damaged mantle

May 27, 2009
From: Dominique Horst


Concerning message #7303:

Hi Bill,

Another doris with a large bite in the mantle. This Discodoris atromaculata seems to be bitten on the head part. It's strange as it is exactly the same position as in Platydoris argo I reported in message #21846.

Locality: Antibes, 12 m, France, Mediterranean sea, 9 May 2009. Length: 5 cm. Photographer: Dominique Horst.

Kind regards,
Dominique

dominique.horst@wanadoo.fr

Horst, D., 2009 (May 27) Re: Peltodoris atromaculata with damaged mantle. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22451

Dear Dom.,

Slugs have no real eyesight so it's their front end which is going to sustain any damage if they make an mistake in which direction they travel. This species is well supplied with distasteful chemicals in its mantle, and the way it openly displays itself suggests it is not greatly affected by fish attack. I would assume a fish attack could come from any direction, so perhaps the damage at the front of the mantle is related to mistakes they make when moving forward. Perhaps they mistakenly crawl into a crevice occupied by a large crab, or a  fish, either of which could 'bite' more out of surprise than hunger.

Perhaps someone else has thoughts on this?

As you will see in a recent message [#20135] I have followed recent work and changed the name of this species to Peltodoris. Talking to Benoit Dayrat this week, he tells me that he has an enormous paper, which is about to be published, which leaves almost nothing in the genus Discodoris. No doubt a few hearts will flutter at the thought of another round of name changing. While my logical brain welcomes the clarification such research produces, my emotional brain will emit a small scream at the extra work that will be needed to change the many names on the Forum that will be affected.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (May 27). Comment on Re: Peltodoris atromaculata with damaged mantle by Dominique Horst. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22451

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