Tambja mullineri from Galapagos
January 3, 2005
From: Julianne Parolisi
Hi Bill,
Here to accompany my message on Glossodoris sedna from the Galapagos, here is a photo of the endemic Tambja mullineri
Locality: Isabela Island, Galapagos Ids, Ecuador, east Pacific Ocean
Depth: ~3 meters, Length: ~ 1 inch, 4 December 2004. Photographer: Julianne Parolisi
Wishing you lots of beautiful nudibranchs for 2005,
Julianne
aurorable@gmail.com
Parolisi, J., 2005 (Jan 3) Tambja mullineri from Galapagos. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12889
Dear Julianne,
This is an interesting little animal. It would certainly be useful to find what it is feeding on, and something about its reproductive biology. If it is indeed endemic to the Galapagos Ids, it would suggest it has an abbreviated larval stage, which could be indicated by large eggs. So finding an animal laying eggs would be useful.
I have included a close-up of part of the encrusting bryozoan colony your animal is crawling on in your photo. Species of Tambja feed on bryozoans, but usually they are species with arborescent (branching) colonies. The other photo in the Forum of this species [#11992] also shows it on an encrusting bryozoan, so perhaps your Galapagos species is different from others of the genus. Certainly if it is common it would be a nice animal to study
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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