Re: Volvatella from east of Cape Town
June 3, 2008
From: Evanne Rothwell
Concerning message #21593:
Hi Bill Rudman
Thank you for the information. The approx. size is about 2 mm. Attached is a photograph of the animal taken from the TV display as we do not have a picture capture facility on the microscope. It is magnified about 150 times and we have cropped the picture. It has since died.
The sketches were done by Lewis Jason, another volunteer at the aquarium who also discovered the animal.
One of the aquarists at the aquarium identified it as newly hatched Philine aperta. Any further comments?
Locality: False Bay Cape Town, Unknown, South Africa, Indian Ocean, May 2008, Unknown. Length: 2 mm. Photographer: Aquarium staff.
Evanne Rothwell
terry@marques.co.za
Rothwell, E., 2008 (Jun 3) Re: Volvatella from east of Cape Town. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21616Dear Evanne,
Thanks for the quick response. This is definitely a juvenile Volvatella. The photo confirms the accuracy of Lewis Jason's drawings, which show the cylindrical shape of the shell with its large exhalent siphon, and also show the stubby earlike tentacles on the head. Even very small juveniles of Philine have a more flattened shell which is capped posteriorly with the larval shell. There is no open siphon in Philine. Have a look at the pages on species of Philine to see the shape of the shell and the smooth stream-lined shape of the head end of the body. In Philine there are no head tentacles.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
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Volvatella from east of Cape Town
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