Slug eating slug - Dondice banyulensis

September 17, 2002
From: Baki Yokes

Dear Bill,
Here is a series of photos of a Dondice banyulensis eating another slug. When I first saw them, I thought that the D. banyulensis was eating the last portion of the hydroid colony, on which it was standing. Then I realized that the victim was not a hydroid but a Facelina rubrovittata. The big slug was swallowing the little one, millimeter by milimeter. All of a sudden, D. banyulensis squeezed the F. rubrovittata and half of the animal fell down. After chewing the last portion for a few seconds, D. banyulensis started to search for the rest of the meal. I didn't know if the F. rubrovittata could survive, but at that moment, with its halved foot, it was moving much faster than its predator.

Up to now, I only knew that D. banyulensis feeds on hydroid colonies. In Gary McDonald & James Nybakken's List of the Worldwide Food Habits of Nudibranchs, Flabellina pedata and Flabellina affinis are also listed on the menu for D. banyulensis. All these Aeolids (D. banyulensis, F. affinis, F. pedata, F. rubrovittata) feed on hydroids of the genus Eudendrium. As these slugs store the nematocysts of the cnidarians they eat, on their cerata, is it possible that, D. banyulensis misidentifies these slugs as a delicious hydroid colony? Or is it just a competetion for the same kind of foodstuff, since the food is scarce?

Upper Right: Dondice eating Facelina. Lower Left: Half eaten Facelina escaping. Lower Right: Facelina caught again. Antalya, Turkey, Dive site: Uc Adalar. Depth: 18m, Sept.1, 2002. Photos: Baki Yokes.

Best wishes
Baki

bakiyokes@turk.net

Yokes, B., 2002 (Sep 17) Slug eating slug - Dondice banyulensis. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7965

Dear Baki,
Thanks for this interesting observation and wonderful photos. I've included a closeup alongside. While I guess it is possible Dondice mistakes its aeolid prey as hydroids, I suspect its much more likely that it is just a voracious carnivore which feeds on these aeolids because they feed on the same hydroid colonies and so are 'available'. There are a number of glaucid aeolids with a reputation for feeding on things other than their standard hydroid food. It's never a good idea when collecting to put glaucids together in collecting jars as 'tragedies' often occur.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Sep 17). Comment on Slug eating slug - Dondice banyulensis by Baki Yokes. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7965

Factsheet

Dondice banyulensis

Related messages

  1. Dondice banyulensis from Portugal
    From: Joao Pedro Silva, March 28, 2008
  2. Juvenile of Dondice banyulensis with its food
    From: Miquel Pontes, March 25, 2008
  3. Dondice banyulensis from Marseille, France
    From: Nadine Neels, July 26, 2006
  4. Dondice banyulensis and Flabellina lineata
    From: Dominique Horst, June 1, 2006
  5. Dondice banyulensis from Portugal
    From: David Abecasis, May 11, 2006
  6. Dondice banyulensis from Croatia [2]
    From: Adam Petrusek, October 11, 2003
  7. Dondice banyulensis from Croatia
    From: Robert Borzymek, October 3, 2003
  8. Re: Is Dondice banyulensis a Mediterranean endemic?
    From: J. L. Cervera, January 23, 2003
  9. Is Dondice banyulensis a Mediterranean endemic?
    From: Miquel Pontes, January 22, 2003
  10. Re: Dondice banyulensis from Turkey
    From: Baki Yokes, October 2, 2002
  11. Dondice banyulensis from Turkey
    From: Baki, September 17, 2002
  12. Dondice banyulensis from French Mediterranean
    From: Marina Poddubetskaia, July 25, 2002
  13. Dondice banyulensis from nthn Spain
    From: Bernard Picton , March 18, 2001
  14. A photo of Dondice banyulensis
    From: Arnaud Parenty, February 24, 2001
  15. Observations on Dondice banyulensis
    From: Erwin Koehler, June 24, 2000

Show factsheet and all related messages