re: Nembrotha rutilans at Fly Point
April 25, 2003
From: Dave Harasti
Note added 4 March 2008: Following Pola et al (2008) the name N. rutilans has been replaced by Nembrotha purpureolineata [see message #21419].
Hi Bill,
Following my last message I took some photo's today of the Nembrotha's mating at Fly Point, Nelson Bay [Port Stephens, NSW, Australia]. This same pair has now been around for 7 weeks.
On each occasion I have seen this pair, there has been a yellow egg ribbon in close proximity. I am 100% sure this has been laid by Nembrotha rutilans as they are always found near this egg mass.
Cheers,
David
diving@webone.com.au
Thanks Dave,
Your upper photo looks like a Nembrotha paradise - with even a few of the yellow-lined ascidians nearby if they get hungry. I have included a close-up alongside showing the copulatory organs in action. As these animals are hermaphrodite both partners receive sperm from the other. In many nudbranchs the female opening [vagina] is just an opening on the right side of the body, sometimes raised on a slight swelling but often not. In at least some species of Nembrotha, as is so well illustrated here, the vaginal opening and the penial papilla are at the end of a long stalk, which is everted during mating.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Related messages
-
Nembrotha purpureolineata and caprellids
From: Valda Fraser, February 17, 2009 -
Abnormality in Nembrotha purpureolineata
From: Leanne & David Atkinson, March 26, 2008 -
Nembrotha purpureolineata laying eggs
From: Leanne & David Atkinson, March 4, 2008 -
Nembrotha rutilans mating in Raja Ampat
From: Bob Whorton, June 5, 2007 -
Nembrotha rutilans? from Indonesia
From: Aaron Fink, March 5, 2007 -
Nembrotha rutilans mating from Lembeh Strait
From: Mike Krampf, December 5, 2006 -
Nembrotha rutilans - feeding observations
From: L. & D. Atkinson, February 15, 2006 -
Nembrotha purpureolineata or purpureolineolata?
From: Roberto Sozzani, February 10, 2006 -
Nembrotha rutilans - colour variation
From: Bruce Potter, February 8, 2006 -
Nembrotha rutilans laying eggs
From: Leanne & David Atkinson, February 6, 2006 -
Nembrotha rutilans laying eggs - some more details
From: Roberto Sozzani, June 24, 2005 -
Nembrotha rutilans eating tunicate
From: Bob Whorton, June 9, 2005 -
Re: Nembrotha rutilans mating
From: Roberto Sozzani, May 11, 2005 -
Nembrotha rutilans mating
From: Roberto Sozzani, May 5, 2005 -
Nembrotha rutilans mating
From: Dana Africa, January 30, 2004 -
Nembrotha rutilans on the Great Barrier Reef
From: Paul Osmond, January 8, 2004 -
Nembrotha rutilans from Bali?
From: Jukka-Pekka Salmenkaita, August 29, 2003 -
Nembrotha rutilans from Nelson Bay, Australia
From: Dave Harasti, April 19, 2003 -
Nembrotha rutilans from Sydney
From: Paul Selwood, January 24, 2003 -
Nembrotha rutilans juvenile feeding
From: Danny Van Belle, January 17, 2003 -
Nembrotha rutilans from Nelson Bay
From: Allan Saben, January 15, 2003 -
Nembrotha rutilans from Borneo
From: Mark Burnett, December 31, 2002 -
Nembrotha rutilans feeding
From: Sabine Noack, November 1, 2002 -
Juvenile? Nembrotha from North Sulawesi
From: Marli Wakeling, October 6, 2002 -
Nembrotha rutilans? from Malaysia
From: Richard Houghton, September 16, 2002 -
Nembrotha rutilans feeding
From: Mary Jane Adams, May 11, 2002 -
Nembrotha rutilans feeding
From: Mary Jane Adams , September 20, 2001 -
Nembrotha rutilans from Mozambique
From: Valda Fraser, May 4, 2001 -
Re: Nembrotha rutilans
From: Jeremy Rose, September 23, 2000 -
Nembrotha rutilans from Sydney
From: A. Lumnitzer & D. Piotrowska, September 21, 2000 -
Nembrotha rutilans in aquarium
From: Jeremy Rose, September 19, 2000 -
Nembrotha rutilans feeding
From: David & Leanne Atkinson, January 22, 2000 -
Nembrotha rutilans from Port Stephens
From: Grey McNeil, July 14, 1999 -
Nembrotha rutilans
From: Bill Rudman, July 2, 1999 -
Nembrotha rutilans mating
From: David & Leanne Atkinson, April 15, 1999