Cuthona cf. caerulea
Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: AEOLIDINA
Family: Tergipedidae
DISTRIBUTION
Known only from Florida
PHOTO
Lake Worth Lagoon, 15 feet, Florida, USA, Atlantic Ocean, 13 May 2006, Intertidal, sandy, rubble. Photographer: Linda Ianniello.
This species has similarities to Cuthona caerulea but there seem to be some consistent differences including the blue band on the cerata, which is quite narrow in this animal but includes most of the lower two-thirds of the cerata in European C. caerulea. Also there is a large blue patch on the head in this animal.
Thompson & Brown (1984) mention records of C. caerulea from Brazil (Marcus, 1955) and a letter from Clark reporting it from Florida. I have looked at Marcus's report and his animal had a yellow cap to the cerata and a blue line down the outer edge of the cerata which is quite different from your animal. Unfortunately there is no way of checking on Kerry Clark's animals. Miller (1961) reports that C. caerulea has a strong preference for the hydroid Sertularella. The hydroid Cuthona cf. caerulea is on is definitely not Serturella and instead looks very like a species of Aglaophenia.
In fact this species looks quite like Cuthona yamasui from the Indo-West Pacific, which feeds on Aglaophenia [see Makoto Uesugi's message #10294].
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Marcus, E. (1955) Opisthobranchia from Brazil . Boletim da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciencias e Letras. Universidade de Sao Paulo, Zoologia 20: 89-261.
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Miller, M. C. (1961) Distribution and food of the nudibranchiate Mollusca of the south of the Isle of Man. Journal of Animal Ecology, 30(1): 95-116.
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Thompson, T.E. & Brown, G.H. (1984) Biology of Opisthobranch Molluscs, Vol 2. 1-229. 41 Pls., Ray Society: London
Rudman, W.B., 2006 (May 17) Cuthona cf. caerulea [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/cuthcfcaer
Related messages
Cuthona cf. caerulea from Florida
July 25, 2007
From: Linda Ianniello
Dr. Bill, here are images of two more Cuthona cf. caerulea from our area. Just for you, one of the images shows feeding behavior.
Locality: Lake Worth Lagoon, 10 feet, Florida, USA, Atlantic Ocean, 8 July 2007, Intertidal. Photographer: Linda Ianniello.
Regards,
Linda I.
lindai1@bellsouth.net
Ianniello, L.M., 2007 (Jul 25) Cuthona cf. caerulea from Florida. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20202
Thanks Linda,
I see it is again on some sort of stinging hydroid - perhaps Aglaophenia? Without knowing something of its anatomy I can't be sure, but as I said in answer to your earlier message [#16637] it certainly looks different in colour and ceratal arrangement from Cuthona caerulea. I see in Caribbean Sea Slugs it is identified as C. caerulea and it is on the same species of hydroid as your animals. Usually aeolids that feed on stinging hydroids like Aglaophenia are specialist feeders, eating only stinging hydroids. From the literature I can see no reports of true C. caerulea from Europe feeding on such hydroids.
It would be interesting to compare the anatomy of 'true' C. caerulea with your species.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Cuthona cf. caerulea from Florida, USA
May 18, 2006
From: Linda Ianniello
Dr. Bill,
Hhere is another interesting find from a recent night dive. I believe it is Cuthona caerulea. I wasn't set up for something so small, so unfortunately the focus is not great...
Locality: Lake Worth Lagoon, 15 feet, Florida, USA, Atlantic Ocean, 13 May 2006, Intertidal, sandy, rubble. Photographer: Linda Ianniello.
Regards,
Linda I.
lindai@us.ibm.com
Ianniello, L.M., 2006 (May 18) Cuthona cf. caerulea from Florida, USA. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16637
Dear Linda,
This is an interesting find. It certainly has similarities to Cuthona caerulea but there seem to be some consistent differences including the blue band on the cerata, which is quite narrow in your Florida animal but including most of the lower two-thirds of the cerata in European animals. Also there is a large blue patch on the head in your animal.
Thompson & Brown (1984) mention records from Brazil (Marcus, 1955) and a letter from Clark saying he had found it in Florida. I have looked at Marcus's report and his animal had a yellow cap to the cerata and a blue line down the outer edge of the cerata which is quite different from your animal. Unfortunately there is no way of checking on Kerry Clark's animals. Miller (1961) reports that C. caerulea has a strong preference for the hydroid Sertularella. The hydroid your animal is on is definitely not Serturella and instead looks very like a species of Aglaophenia.
In fact your animal looks quite like Cuthona yamasui from the Indo-West Pacific, which feeds on Aglaophenia. Have a look Makoto Uesugi's message [#10294]. It would have been nice to show that that C. caerulea occurs on both sides of the Atlantic, but it is just as exciting to discover what appears to be a new species with a close relationship to an Indo-West Pacific species.
-
Marcus, E. (1955) Opisthobranchia from Brazil . Boletim da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciencias e Letras. Universidade de Sao Paulo, Zoologia 20: 89-261.
-
Miller, M. C. (1961) Distribution and food of the nudibranchiate Mollusca of the south of the Isle of Man. Journal of Animal Ecology, 30(1): 95-116.
-
Thompson, T.E. & Brown, G.H. (1984) Biology of Opisthobranch Molluscs, Vol 2. 1-229. 41 Pls., Ray Society: London
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
