Info on the life of a sea slug

April 4, 2002
From: Randol

Dear Mr. Rudman,
I love your site and it has gotten me interested on nudibranchs. but The one thing I could not seem to find is what a nudibranch's life story is. I am doing a report for school so please hurry.
Randol

randolj@mindspring.com

Randol, 2002 (Apr 4) Info on the life of a sea slug. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6464

Dear Randol,
I am afraid there is not just one life story for a nudibranch. There are thousands of species and each one has a slightly different story, just as humans are a bit different from chimpanzees, and dogs and elephants etc although we are all mammals. Basically nudibranchs are all hermaphrodites that is they have both a fully functional set of both male and female reproductive organs. When they reach maturity, which can take a few days to a few months in different species, they find a partner and mate. They lay their eggs in an elaborate egg ribbon and then the eggs develop either directly into a small crawling slugs or indirectly into a swimming veliger larvae.

If you have a look at the pages on Life Span and Larvae you will find information and links to other pages which will give you more background information. Be sure to check out the messages and discussions that are found at the botton of each page as that is where you will find much of the information on the Forum. Also go to the General Topics Page and look through the Index.
Good Luck with your school report,
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Apr 4). Comment on Info on the life of a sea slug by Randol. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6464

Factsheet

Life span

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