Halgerda gunnessi from Rottnest Is, W. Australia
March 17, 2004
From: Masoud Abadi
Hi Bill,
I took some photos of Halgerda graphica on the weekend [March 2004] at the west end of Rottnest Island [off Perth, Western Australia]. It looks very different from the slugs' book and your web site pics of H. graphica. Have I named it correctly?
Masoud Abadi
masoud@theinternetmen.com
Abadi, M., 2004 (Mar 17) Halgerda gunnessi from Rottnest Is, W. Australia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12466
Dear Masoud,
This is Halgerda gunnessi. You won't find it in most identification guides because it has only been named a couple of years. I assume the sponge it is is on is where you found it. If so it might be a useful piece of information as a possible food sponge fopr the species.
Halgerda gunnessi is quite similar in appearance to H. theobroma but seems to differ in a number of colour features. Apart from the obvious differences, H. theobroma also has a white edge and a submarginal yellow line around the mantle, while in H. gunnessi the mantle edge is yellow. The foot in H. theobroma has a yellow edge. I don't know what colour the edge of the foot is in H. gunnessi. Perhaps you could check your photos and see if you have one showing the foot poking out from under the mantle somewhere.
This seems to be quite a rare species so every sighting is valuable.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
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