Berghia verrucicornis in Israel?

July 6, 2002
From: Mark Sherman

I live in Israel and have a 400 liter reef. I am trying to obtain Berghia verrucicornis to help control the Aiptasia in my tank.

Any suggestions where to look for Berghia verrucicornis in the Mediterranean? Right off the coast? At what depth? Any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Mark Sherman

sherlaw@netvision.net.il

Sherman, M., 2002 (Jul 6) Berghia verrucicornis in Israel?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7429

Dear Mark,
You have no doubt seen the on-going discussion about the true identity of the 'commercial' B. verrucicornis sold in the USA. It would certainly be interesting to know if the Mediterranean B. verrucicornis ate Aiptasia. The big problem is finding it. I don't know if it has been recorded from there but in the western Mediterranean it has been reported from relatively shallow water [10m or less] on rocky bottoms. The only comprehensive list of opisthobranchs from Israel is quite old (Barash & Danin, 1971) so even though it is not in that list does not mean it can't be found. In a subsequent paper on feeding (Barash & Zenziper, 1984) they mention that Spurilla neapolitana feeds on Aiptasia sulcata so there may be something close by to solve your problem.

I would suggest you get in touch with Henk K. Mienis who may be able to give you further information or suggest some one who can. He is at the:
National Mollusc Collection
Dept. Evolution, Systematics & Ecology
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
IL-91904 Jerusalem.

• Barash, A & Danin, Z. (1971) Opisthobranchia (Mollusca) from the Mediterranean waters of Israel. Israel Journal of Zoology, 20: 151-200.
• Barash, A. & Zenziper, Z. (1984) On the food of some Opisthobranchs found in the Mediterranean waters of Israel. Levantina, 51: 585-598.

If you have any luck I would love to hear about it.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Jul 6). Comment on Berghia verrucicornis in Israel? by Mark Sherman. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7429

Factsheet

Berghia verrucicornis

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