Battle between Aglajid sp. 7 and flatworm

June 29, 2005
From: Binyamin Koretz


Hi Bill,

Here are some photos of what appears to be a colorful species of Philinopsis battling (and taking a bite of) some kind of worm. Ultimately the worm escaped with just the one bite missing from its left side.

Locality: Eilat, Village Beach, Israel. Red Sea (Gulf of Eilat). Depth: 4 m. Length: ca. 2.5 cm. 06 June 2005. sand and rubble slope. Photographer: Binyamin and Shulamit Koretz

I'm sending additional photos [message #14015 ] of just the aglajid slug in a separate message.

Regards
Binyamin

binyamin@koretz.net

Koretz, B., 2005 (Jun 29) Battle between Aglajid sp. 7 and flatworm. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14014

Dear Binyamin,
Thanks for these photos. I must admit I am not 100% sure what is happening. Aglajids, other than Odontoglaja, are toothless and feed by either suction or a combination of suction and enveloping of the prey by the extensible buccal bulb. This animal does not seem to be everting its buccal bulb, and the damage on the flatworm suggests the slug may have bitten the worm with teeth. I guess I'll need to look at the anatomy of my specimen [message #14015] to be sure.

Very interesting.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Jun 29). Comment on Battle between Aglajid sp. 7 and flatworm by Binyamin Koretz. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14014

Factsheet

Aglajid sp. 7

Related messages

  1. Aglajid sp. 7 from the Red Sea
    From: Binyamin Koretz, June 29, 2005

Show factsheet and all related messages