Chromodoris splendida feeding

March 9, 2002
From: David Wachenfeld


Hello Bill

Here is a photo I took at Julian Rocks, Byron Bay, nthn New South Wales, Australia in December 2001. I would be very grateful for any help with species id or behavioural information. Many thanks.

Regards,
David

triggerfish@bigpond.com

Wachenfeld. D., 2002 (Mar 9) Chromodoris splendida feeding. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6347

Dear David,
This is great photo of an interesting animal. This is the 'one-spot' form of Chromodoris splendida. In southern and central New South Wales this species has many red spots on the mantle presumably to match the prevailing red-spotted colour pattern in that region [see red-spot mimicry page]. In northern New South Wales however this single red spot form prevails. This species is endemic to New South Wales and southern Queensland. It feeds on at least two species of aplysillid sponge (Darwinella spp), one pink, one yellow. If you look carefully at the UPPER photo you can see a white 'bump' at the front of each animal. This is the 'oral tube' a sort of proboscis which is everted when the animal is feeding so the buccal bulb and their radular teeth can scrape and bite off pieces of the sponge. It's not often you can get a photo at this angle to show them feeding. I have sometimes suggested that one way to check if a sponge feeder is actually feeding is to gently lift it off its sponge and see if the buccal bulb is everted. This is the white 'thing' you should look for.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Mar 9). Comment on Chromodoris splendida feeding by David Wachenfeld. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6347

Factsheet

Chromodoris splendida

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