Re: Second record of Trapania tartanella from the UK

August 31, 2009
From: David Kipling

Concerning message #22609:

Dear Bill,

I remember looking at this specimen underwater and initially thinking "Polycera faeroensis", based on its size and it being a white-with-yellow-bits nudibranch. It seemed a typical size for that species, and together with the scale of the red weed in the background I would guess this specimen is around 20-30 mm.

That isn't very large by tropical standards I grant you, but would be fairly typical for quite a number of the larger UK nudibranchs (aeolids and the like), as opposed to the harder-to-spot smaller ones like the Doto species.

Both Trapania specimens were easy to spot from several feet away; they were perched very visibly on contrasting red weed. However, they look so similar to Polycera faeroensis - a common and familiar nudibranch in the UK - that I wonder if other specimens have been seen but ignored as "just another Polycera".

Best regards

David

plankton@dircon.co.uk

Kipling, D., 2009 (Aug 31) Re: Second record of Trapania tartanella from the UK. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22623

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