Flabellina from Costa Rica
May 8, 2002
From: Peter Ajtai
Note added 10 February 2005: This is now known on Forum as Hermosita hakunamatata.
Dear Bill,
I found these guys off the north western coast of Costa Rica, off a group of islands called the Islas Murcielago. There is a lot of upwelling in this area. I found the two nudibranchs at about 20ft at midday. I first saw the egg masses and only later noticed the nudibranchs themselves. Hopefully I'll have some underwater shots later, but I have to develop the film and scan it first. These photos are just with a digital camera.
What do you think these are? They have a small white papilla at the tip of each rhinophore. Protoaeolidiella atra look to be somewhat similar, but I don't think they are the same.
Thanks for your help, and I'll probably send some more photos of other branchs from the field trip...
PS: I am currently involved in helping out in the Guanacaste Nudibranch Project at the University of Costa Rica. I'm helping out with the webpage and with the diving for the project. Here is a page with some information about the project:
http://www.slugophile.org/page/project.html
Best wishes,
Peter Ajtai.
ajtai@slugophile.org
Ajtai, P., 2002 (May 8) Flabellina from Costa Rica. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6825Dear Peter,
Thanks for these interesting photos and any more will always be welcome. I don't rcognise this animal but someone with local knowledge may. It certainly has similarities to Protoaeolidiella but as your suggest it is most probably a species of Flabellina. Its colour pattern, with a black body and a broad whitish band down each side, is most unusual, and from your photos seems to be to camouflage it on the black-stalked hydroid on which you found it, much as Protoaeolidiella is so well camouflaged on its hyfroid Solanderia.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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