Chromodoris quadricolor from the Red Sea

March 16, 2005
From: Binyamin Koretz

Hi Bill,
As you probably know, Chromodoris quadricolor is the most plentiful opistobranch in Eilat, appearing in large numbers at all depths (to 45m at least), in all seasons, at all times of day, etc. But we've never seen one doing this before, and I was hoping you could explain the trick: This (relatively small) one had somehow attached himself to a blade of sea grass and was just "hanging out". What do you think?

Locality: Eilat, Village Beach, Israel, Red Sea. Depth: 23 m. Length: 2 cm.11 March 2005. sea grass, occasional coral heads. Photographer: Binyamin and Shulamit Koretz

Best regards
Binyamin

binyamin@koretz.net

Koretz, B., 2005 (Mar 16) Chromodoris quadricolor from the Red Sea. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13338

Dear Binyamin,
When we move around our main way of seeing where we are going, is our sight. The eyes of nudibranchs can't form images, so to a large extent they are reliant on the sense of touch and the sense of smell. When they are crawling along and come to the 'end' or edge of what they are crawling on, they often extend out as far as they can go and then wave around hoping to make contact with another object on which to crawl. Caterpillars do something similar. They also use their paired rhinophores to 'smell' chemicals in the water [rhinophore = 'nose carrier']. If they sense something interesting, perhaps molecules produced by their food sponge, they are able to take aim toward the source of the interesting chemicals. Many sighted animals take aim at their prey by waving their head like this to get the distance right. So while they seem to be just 'hanging out' their little brains are probably working overtime.

Your mention of Chromodoris quadricolor being very common raises the possibility that you and your fellow enthusiasts could try and answer a few simple questions about this and the similarly coloured species of chromodorid in your part of the world. It would be very useful to have some photos of their egg ribbons and their food sponge. If there is more than one species perhaps we can see some egg ribbon differences and even food sponge differences.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Mar 16). Comment on Chromodoris quadricolor from the Red Sea by Binyamin Koretz. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13338

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