Halgerda sp. 6 - mating

March 17, 2006
From: Kristin Anderson


In addition to my message [#15883 ]on this Halgerda sp here are some more photos including a close-up of mating.

These two individuals were a fair distance apart (at least 3m), in fact, I didn't see the second crawling up behind me until I returned to the first one with my dive buddy! Interestingly, when I saw the first one I did not see a trail behind it, but as soon as I saw the second one there was a distinctive trail behind it. As I watched them approach, both were leaving distinctive trails. The second slug headed directly towards the first slug; slug number one at first seemed as if it would turn away, but then straightened out directly towards slug 2.

Once connected they remained that way for at least 10 minutes. I did not return to them after that so don't know how much longer they stayed together.

Locality: Lighthouse Bay, 10m, Western Australia, Indian Ocean, Ningaloo Reef, 25 February, 2006, hard coral & limestone reef. Length: 3-4cm. Photographer: Kristin Anderson.

Kristin Anderson

kristin@OceansByAnderson.com

Anderson, K. J., 2006 (Mar 17) Halgerda sp. 6 - mating. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15984

Thanks Kristin,
Bill Rudman

Factsheet

Halgerda sp. 6

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  1. Undescribed Halgerda from NW Australia
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