Tritonia hamnerorum
Gosliner & Ghiselin, 1987

Order: NUDIBRANCHIA
Suborder: DENDRONOTINA
Family: Tritoniidae

DISTRIBUTION

Caribbean

PHOTO

Little Cayman, British West Indies. Dive Site: Bloody Bay, July, 2001, Depth: 30 feet,
Size: 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Photos Anne DuPont.

This relatively small tritoniid feeds exclusively on gorgonian sea fans and is sometimes found in large numbers. Croniin et al (1995) report finding T. hamnerorum in Florida at extremely high densities, with as many as 1700 nudibranchs on a single colony of Gorgonia ventilina. T. hamnerorum removes distasteful chemicals from the sea fans and stores them for its own defence.

References:
• Cronin, G., Hay, M.E. Fenical, W., Lindquist, N. (1995) Distribution, Density, and Sequestration of Host Chemical Defenses by the Specialist Nudibranch Tritonia hamnerorum Found at High Densities on the Sea Fan Gorgonia ventalina. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 119(1-3): 177-189.
• Gosliner, T.M., Ghiselin, M.T. (1987). A new species of Tritonia (Opisthobranchia: Gastropoda) from the Caribbean Sea. Bull. Mar. Sci., 40(3): 428-436.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 2002 (January 20) Tritonia hamnerorum Gosliner & Ghiselin, 1987 . [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/trithamn

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