Facelina bostoniesis in Massachusetts, USA - feeding observations

April 7, 2010
From: Jerry Shine

Hello Bill,
Here is a shot of a Facelina bostoniesis attacking a Cerianthus borealis. I have not seen this cnidarian listed as part of the typical diet of F. bostoniesis. When it made contact with a tentacle, the cerianthid immediately retracted into the bottom, taking the nudibranch down with it.

The second shot was taken later on the same dive. A F. bostoniesis was head on into a Cuthona nana. Thompson has written that in lab vessels, F. bostoniesis will attack other nudibranchs. Any ideas if that is the case here? I was able to observe them for less than a minute because it was at the end of the dive and I was almost out of air but they did not move during that time.

Locality: Old Garden Beach, 5 meters, Massachusetts, USA, Atlantic Ocean, 05 April 2010, sand/silt. Length: 20mm. Photographer: Jerry Shine.

Jerry Shine

shine@bluespherepubs.com

Shine, J., 2010 (Apr 7) Facelina bostoniesis in Massachusetts, USA - feeding observations. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23449

Dear Jerry,

This is an interesting pair of observations. Firstly I dont know of any other records of an aeolid feeding on a cerianthid, although at least one other nudibranch, Dendronotus iris, feeds on them. Facelinids [phidianids] are usually hydroid feeders but many are known to eat other nudibranchs and carcases of some dead invertebrates, so it is highly probable that it is feeding on the Cuthona. Interestingly, Jussi Evertsen [message #11463] reports F. bostoniensis feeding on another cnidarian group - the sea pens.

It seems we still have a bit to learn about this species' diet

• Evertsen, J. & Bakken, T. 1999. Additional data on the food-preferences of the nudibranch Facelina bostoniensis (Couthouy, 1838) (Aeolidoidea: Facelinidae). Opisthobranch Newsletter, 25: 33-34.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2010 (Apr 7). Comment on Facelina bostoniesis in Massachusetts, USA - feeding observations by Jerry Shine. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23449

Factsheet

Facelina bostoniensis

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