Herviella mietta? from Japan.

December 22, 2003
From: Jun Imamoto


Dear Bill.

This sea slug, Herviella mietta doesn't seem to be reported on the Forum from Japan, so here is a Japanese individual. It was discovered under a stone in shallow water in a sheltered bay.
There were many sea anemones in the neighborhood. I am very interested about the distribution of Herviella mietta. I am happy if these reports are useful for your research.

18 December 2003
place: Amami Ooshima Islands, Kagoshima, Japan.
size about: 12mm
depth: 0.5 m
temperature: 22 C

Best Regards,
Jun Imamoto
http://www.umiushi.info/

imamoto@umiushi.info

Imamoto, J., 2003 (Dec 22) Herviella mietta? from Japan.. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11720

Dear Jun,
Yes I am sure this is Herviella mietta. As far as I know the only records we have of it are from Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Ids and from the Hawaiian Ids, so your find in Japan is an interesting extension to its known distribution. I am also interested in your description of it being in an area with many sea anemones. As I discuss in the Fact Sheet, there are possible observations of it in Hawaii feeding on a sea anemone, which is of interest because aeolids of the family Glaucidae are not known to feed on sea anemones. So if you get a chance to observe this species again it might be worth 'introducing' it to an anemone and seeing if it takes any interest. There is not much chance it will start feeding, but it is always worth a try.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Dec 22). Comment on Herviella mietta? from Japan. by Jun Imamoto. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11720

Factsheet

Herviella mietta

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  1. Re: Herviella mietta? from Japan.
    From: Jun Imamoto, December 24, 2003

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