Nembrotha milleri from Solomon Ids

August 2, 2000
From: Mary Jane Adams


Hi Bill,

Here is a slug to add to your Forum. Nembrotha milleri was described by Gosliner and Behrens in 1997 and named for branchophile Michael D. Miller. It was originally found in the Philippines and Sulawesi. I found several of them on a reef in the Florida Group of the Solomon Islands in November, 1999. They were about 45 mm long and were crawling on top of the reef at about 10 meters. This reef has lots of ascidians, which Behrens reports is their prey. I also found a large number of Nembrotha kubaryana and Nembrotha cristata at this divesite.

Regards,
Mary Jane

mjadams@earthlink.net

Adams, M.J., 2000 (Aug 2) Nembrotha milleri from Solomon Ids. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2799

Thanks Mary Jane,
These dark green coloured species of Nembrotha are very difficult to photograph. The colour and 'velvet-like' nature of their skin seems to suck in all the light, leaving none for the photo. I have includede enlarged sections of the head and gills to give everyone an indication of the colour pattern.

I have also enlarged a little group of an ascidian with a deep green ring around the inhalent and exhalent siphons. There are a number of clumps of these in your upper photo it is actually pressing its head against such a clump. Gosliner & Behrens (1997) state that this species has not been found in association with a specific prey, but on your suggestion I have checked this with Dave Behrens who says:

"Yes, this is the species of tunicate we always find N. milleri feeding on in the Philippines.  The type locality, Devil's Point, Batangas Region, Luzon, Philippines is covered with this colonial ascidian, which we have had identified as Sigillina signifera".

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Aug 2). Comment on Nembrotha milleri from Solomon Ids by Mary Jane Adams. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2799

Factsheet

Nembrotha milleri

Related messages

  1. Nembrotha milleri from Verde Island (Philippines).
    From: Vie Panyarachun, December 7, 2009
  2. Nembrotha from Pemba, Tanzania
    From: Andrew Sutton, April 4, 2008
  3. Nembrotha milleri in Raja Ampat, Indonesia
    From: Aaron Fink, March 6, 2007
  4. Nembrotha milleri from Sipadan, Malaysia
    From: Charles Rowe, July 21, 2006
  5. Nembrotha milleri with orange spots?
    From: Wilhelm van Zyl, May 10, 2006
  6. Is this Nembrotha? climbing into a Tridacna
    From: Pasquale Pascullo, March 9, 2006
  7. Nembrotha milleri from East Timor
    From: Nick Hobgood, February 23, 2006
  8. Nembrotha milleri with red spots
    From: Erwin Koehler, April 28, 2003
  9. Nembrotha milleri? from Indonesia
    From: Jim Bartlett, November 28, 2002
  10. Nembrotha milleri from Mauritius
    From: Marina Poddubetskaia, November 15, 2002
  11. Re: Nembrotha milleri & Nembrotha sp 14
    From: Bernard Picton, September 7, 2002
  12. Nembrotha milleri from Malaysia
    From: Richard Houghton, September 7, 2002
  13. Nembrotha milleri from Malaysia
    From: Kenneth, July 28, 2002
  14. Re: Nembrotha milleri & Nembrotha sp 14
    From: Dave Behrens, July 17, 2002
  15. Nembrotha milleri & Nembrotha sp 14
    From: Mary Jane Adams, July 14, 2002
  16. Nembrotha milleri feeding
    From: Erwin Koehler, June 12, 2002
  17. Nembrotha milleri from Western Australia
    From: Richard Hall, May 14, 2002
  18. Nembrotha milleri feeding
    From: Bernard Picton , May 13, 2002
  19. Nembrotha from East Africa
    From: Bernard Picton , May 13, 2002
  20. Nembrotha milleri? from Malaysia
    From: Paul Jambunathan, December 15, 2001
  21. Nembrotha milleri from the Solomon Ids
    From: Bruce Potter, December 3, 2001
  22. Nembrotha milleri from Solomon Ids
    From: Bruce Potter, April 7, 2001

Show factsheet and all related messages