Re: Chelidonura amoena population explosion

June 10, 2002
From: Todd Garthwaite

Hi Bill.
I thought you might be interested to know that after diving at Dragon Cave Bay (off of Taipei County's N.E. Coast, Taiwan), last Saturday afternoon, I discovered that the population explosion of Chelidonura amoena appears to be over. As I mentioned back in April, there were hundreds upon hundreds of this particular species spread out all over the Bay. This time I came across a mere 4 specimens. There is one difference in environmental conditions, however, & that is the water temperature is now 25 degrees C.,~ back in April it was 21 degrees. However, I don't know if a temperature difference of 4 degrees is truly significant in this species vanishing.

Perhaps they just lived out their natural life spans. I wonder what the average life span is for Chelidonura amoena? Any ideas? Anyhow, it's fascinating how one species of nudibranchs can appear overnight in such large numbers, and then just as quickly disappear.

Stay golden.
Best wishes always.
Todd Garthwaite
(Taipei, Taiwan)

typhoontoddy@yahoo.com

Garthwaite, T., 2002 (Jun 10) Re: Chelidonura amoena population explosion. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7204

Dear Todd,
I'm afraid we know very little about the life span of most opisthobranchs. I suspect that in this case they had reached the end of their natural lifespan but that is only a guess. I can't even say that size is any indication of age either because in New South Wales on the east coast of Australia we sometimes get great concentrations of Chelidonura in early spring, much as you are reporting. For 2-3 months there can be large numbers present, often intertidally, of C. inornata and C. fulvipunctata, they reach maturity, lay eggs and then all die. But unlike their tropical counterparts which grow to 50mm or more in length, in the temperate waters of New South Wales, they are seldom more than 15mm long.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Jun 10). Comment on Re: Chelidonura amoena population explosion by Todd Garthwaite . [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7204

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