Re: Food for the bubble shell Hydatina physis?

December 16, 2009
From: Lindsay Lyles

Concerning message #1690:

I have recently developed a deep fascination with Hydatina physis and have read many of the articles in this forum/thread? This entry fascinated me and I was just wondering if there was any follow up on this particular experiment (for lack of a better word)? Was it a success? Does Hydatina physis only eat cirratulid worms because they are easy to catch or will they eat any similar worm if an opportunity presents itself?

Lindsay Lyles

Psychic_Alice@yahoo.com

Lyles, L., 2009 (Dec 16) Re: Food for the bubble shell Hydatina physis?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22986

Dear Lindsay,

I am afraid we got no follow-up on whether Hydatina would eat other polychaete worms. In the discussion you refer to I described how another worm-eater, Melanochlamys cylindrica, would eat worms in captivity it would never encounter in the field. Because of its 'suction pump' foregut it was able to ingest most worms presented to it, as long as they were stationary. Hydatina has evolved a different type of foregut with a very long 'proboscis-like oral tube' [see message #21498] which I guess is designed to be inserted down worm tubes. Whether it would work with free-living worms without tubes I am not sure. All I can say is I have not yet found the remains of 'tubeless' worms in the gut of Hydatina.

Hydatina physis sometimes occurs in quite large numbers so it would be an interesting little 'experiment' for some one to attempt - just tempt some Hydatina with a variety of worms and see how hungry they are.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2009 (Dec 16). Comment on Re: Food for the bubble shell Hydatina physis? by Lindsay Lyles. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22986

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