Chromodoris willani - eggs & food

December 11, 2007
From: N. Barbara Hanchard


Hi Bill,

Initially I wasn't going to send these photos in but after reading the recent discussion on Chromodoris willani and feeding behaviour I thought these may contribute to the forum. The photos are some of an aggregation of the species on a sponge (unidentified). They were all stationary, and I assume feeding, although I couldn't quite tell. I did manage to capture one in the process of laying eggs. In my haste to free up space on memory card, I deleted a wider shot of the whole sponge, so I am hoping that maybe you can tell from these what it is. One of the drawbacks from being to lazy to lug along laptop on a dive weekend.

Locality: White Beach, Russell Islands, 25 meters, Solomon Islands, Pacific Ocean, 9 December 2007, WWII landing barge. Length: 25 - 30mm. Photographer: N.Barbara Hanchard.

Regards
Barbara

barbara.hanchard@ffa.int

Hanchard, N.B., 2007 (Dec 11) Chromodoris willani - eggs & food. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21302

Dear Barbara,

I am very glad you did send these photos. It's true I can't positively identify the sponge but I am pretty sure it is Semitaspongia again, which is useful in building up a full picture of its feeding behaviour.

Another very interesting thing is the apparent lack of white spots on the gills and rhinophores. By fiddling with the image files I was able to enlarge the gills in the upper photo to show there are white spots on the gills in that animal. . However I can find no sign of white spots in the animal in the lower photo or in the one laying eggs. At first I thought this was a sign that C. willani might sometimes lack white spots on the gills and rhinophores, but on reflection I suspect the animal in the lower two photos is C. lochi, which feeds on the same sponges as C. willani, but lacks white spots on the gills and rhinophores and has a more elongate mantle with a much narrower 'skirt' or overlap.

Which means the photo of the animal with the flat-egg ribbon is either a useful addition to Mike Krampf's photo [message #20399] of C. willani laying a flat egg ribbon or is the first photo I have seen of C. lochi and its similar egg ribbon. Either way it gives me a chance to nnote the very similar biology between these two very similar looking species.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Dec 11). Comment on Chromodoris willani - eggs & food by N. Barbara Hanchard. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21302

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