Peltodoris nobilis from Puget Sound, Washington

April 28, 2006
From: Jan Kocian


When looking for slugs, most of the time I find them eating, this was the first time I found one in the act which is part of the whole process associated with eating. Don't know how to put it delicately, so I include a cartoon..

Locality: Whidbey Island, Puget Sound, 15 feet, Washington USA, Puget Sound,NE Pacific Ocean, 26 March 2006, Rock Jetty. Length: 35mm. Photographer: Jan Kocian.

Jan Kocian

honkoc@hotmail.com

Kocian J., 2006 (Apr 28) Peltodoris nobilis from Puget Sound, Washington. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16210

Hi Jan,
Well leave it to Bill to assign me the subject of Branch Sanitation.  Yes Jan, what you have documented here is the process of faecal discharge.  In Peltodoris nobilis, as you show here, the discharge of faecal material forms a long string.  Other species defecate pellets.

Interestingly, examination of the feces can provide information about what the species is feeding on.  The faeces of sponge eaters like P. nobilis will contain sponge spicules.  Faeces of Marionia and Tritonia will contain the sclerites of the soft corals they feed on, and te feces of species like Navanax will contain the shells and radula of their prey.

We should note that your specimen here represents the white color variation of P. nobilis, which seems to becoming more common along this coastline.  Maybe you can send us your shot with the white and yellow animals juxtaposed.

Thanks,
Dave Behrens

Behrens, D.W., 2006 (Apr 28). Comment on Peltodoris nobilis from Puget Sound, Washington by Jan Kocian. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16210

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