Is this Polycera hedgpethi?
September 27, 2005
From: Chris Cunnold
![](/images/m14839a.jpg)
Dear Bill,
I came across this very bad photo from my very first underwater photo effort in January 2004. Is this Polycera hedgepethi? I've scanned all the books and cannot come up with anything else. If so, is it the rare find in Western Australia that all the books say it is?
Locality: Cockburn Sound, Western Australia, on Jetty Pylons. Depth: 6 m.
Length: 2.5 cm. 24 January 2004. Photographer: Chris Cunnold
Regards
Chris
cunnold@iinet.net.au
Cunnold, C., 2005 (Sep 27) Is this Polycera hedgpethi?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14839Dear Chris,
Yes this is Polycera hedgpethi, quite dark but definitely that species. It is a bit hard to say if it is rare or common anywhere it is found because it is a not a 'stay-at-home' species. It is totally dependent on a particular bryozoan species on which it feeds. That bryozoan, Bugula, is what we call a fouling organism because it 'fouls' the bottom of boats. Fouling organisms usually have larvae in the plankton all the time and they are the first organisms to settle out of the plankton when a clean space becomes available on the sea bed, or boat's bottom, wharf pile, etc. They then grow to maturity bery quickly before they are eaten or crowded out by some other organism, which is a bit slower to settle but for various reasons is better at pushing out competitors was it gets going. So a fouling organism's main characteristics are its ability to quickly settle when a space becomes available, and then a rapid growth to maturity and production of the next generation and a short life. Animals which feed on fouling organisms, out of necessity have much the same life cycle. So its usually feast or famine. That's why you may find large populations of Polycera hedgpethi at a particular spot for a short period, and then none for years. I don't think describing that as 'rare' means much. perhaps 'intermittent' or 'spasmodic' would be better terms.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Related messages
-
Polycera hedgpethi from California
From: Phil Garner, November 3, 2008 -
Polycera hedgpethi from Western Australia
From: Brent Murdoch, April 1, 2008 -
Polycera hedgpethi from Western Australia
From: Bruce Potter, March 12, 2007 -
Polycera hedgpethi? from Victoria, Australia
From: Martin Hing, December 19, 2006 -
Polycera hedgpethi in Picton Harbour, New Zealand
From: Ashley Coutts, December 13, 2006 -
Polycera hedgpethi from San Diego
From: Mike Neubig, February 22, 2006 -
Re: Polycera hedgpethi from the Mediterranean
From: Mick Tait, October 8, 2005 -
Polycera hedgpethi from the Mediterranean
From: Egidio Trainito, October 7, 2005 -
Polycera hedgpethi research
From: Nerida Wilson, October 3, 2005 -
Re: Is this Polycera hedgpethi?
From: Mick Tait, September 30, 2005 -
Polycera hedgpethi - Cockburn Sound, W. Australia
From: Mick Tait, July 13, 2005 -
Polycera hedgpethi from South Korea
From: Dong Bum Koh, June 11, 2005 -
Re: Polycera hedgpethi from NSW, Australia
From: Juan Lucas Cervera, February 13, 2004 -
Polycera hedgpethi from NSW, Australia
From: Dave Harasti, February 11, 2004 -
Polycera hedgpethi from French Mediterranean
From: Marina Poddubetskaia, August 21, 2003 -
Re: Polycera hedgpethi from Spain
From: Juan Lucas Cervera, March 31, 2003 -
Polycera hedgpethi from Japan.
From: Jun Imamoto, August 6, 2002 -
Re: Geographical range of Polycera hedgpethi
From: Juan Lucas Cervera, October 5, 1999 -
Polycera hedgpethi from New Zealand
From: Ross & Diane Armstrong, July 24, 1999 -
Talk about synchronicity!
From: Ross & Diane Armstrong, July 24, 1999 -
Polycera hedgpethi
From: Betsey Hansen, July 23, 1999 -
I found my first seaslug!
From: Peter Firminger, July 23, 1999