Re: Ercolania fuscata from Florida

April 23, 2001
From: Anna L. Bass

Hi Dr. Rudman,
Thank you for correcting my id. I'm still learning how to figure out who is who. I agree that a few specimens doesn't tell you a lot. I did want to clarify that my observation was based on a total of 20 animals. 16 individuals were found in the non-aerated tank and had the brown appearance while 4 other individuals were found in the aerated tank and were larger and had the green color similar to the first photo. I didn't actually take measurements on all specimens so can't say that there were any statistically significant differences. Just an observation.

Best Regards,
Anna L. Bass

abass@helios.acomp.usf.edu

Bass, A.L., 2001 (Apr 23) Re: Ercolania fuscata from Florida. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4226

Thanks Anna,
Perhaps you should put a few of the dark ones in the aerated tank and see if they 'green' up a bit. I hesitate to suggest two species but I guess anything is possible. Sometimes we find two very similar looking species together. They may be separable on anatomical differences, but sometimes the only easy way to distinguish them is their food or some aspect of their life history.
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Apr 23). Comment on Re: Ercolania fuscata from Florida by Anna L. Bass. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4226

Factsheet

Ercolania fuscata

Related messages

  1. Re: Colour variation in Ercolania fuscata
    From: Anna L. Bass, April 26, 2001
  2. Colour variation in Ercolania fuscata
    From: Kathe Jensen, April 24, 2001
  3. Ercolania fuscata from Florida
    From: Anna Bass, April 19, 2001

Show factsheet and all related messages