Re: Chromodoris willani for sale in Brazil

August 19, 2000
From: Paulo Rubens Cabral

Dear Dr. Rudman,
I have bought a Chromodoris willani in a aquarium store, and when I checked in Invertebrate Zoology (Rupert/Barnes) that nudibranchs are not herbivorous I felt rather stupid, as I am a biology student and obviously I don't want the animal to die so I ask you to give me some advice on what this species feeds on and how could I best keep it. I bought it about 2 days ago, and just read the diet information. Now I browsed through the web and the best I could find on their diet is that it would feed on porifera, except the calcareous.

I really consider that I've made a mistake by buying it, as it'll probably die. An extreme solution would be try to get it back to the store, but that would not be quite simple, and I think the animal would die there anyway. I would really appreciate your help and hope to keep it alive. Anyhow, I learned a great lesson, not to buy it. I really don't understand why these stores keep seeling invertebrates that are doomed from the day thery are captured.
Thanks in advance,

Paulo Rubens Cabral

pauloc@unisys.com.br

Cabral, P.R., 2000 (Aug 19) Re: Chromodoris willani for sale in Brazil. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2897

Dear Paulo,
I agree that shops shouldn't be selling live animals that customers haven't got a reasonable chance of keeping alive. There have been quite a few queries to the Forum abut this topic. Have a look at the recent message about Hypselodoris bullocki for some more information on the topic.

Most chromodorids have a very specialised diet, each species having its own special choice of one or a few species of sponge. in general, they feed on sponges which do not have siliceous spicules, instead having a skeleton of spongin fibres. I don't know what species C. willani feeds on naturally but as it will not occur in Brasilian waters what you need is a Brasilian species that it may eat. If you live near the sea perhaps you could try a few local sponges. On problem of course is that sponges are not that easy to keep alive in aquaria.

If you have some way of identifying your local sponges, perhaps you could try species in the following families and genera which are recorded as food for various chromodorid species.

ORDER Dictyoceratida
• Family Spongiidae - Spongia
• Family Thorectidae - Psammocinia, Ircinia, Fasciospongia, Hyrtios
• Family Dysideidae - Dysidea

ORDER Dendroceratida
• Family Darwinellidae - Aplysilla, Darwinella, Chelonaplysilla, Dendrilla

ORDER Haplosclerida
• Family Callyspongidae - Callyspongia, Chalinopsilla.

I can't guarantee you will have any success but when I was a student in New Zealand, a friend was studying the feeding preferences of the dorid nudibranch Rostanga muscula, which is only found in New Zealand. It turned out that its most preferred food was a sponge which had been accidently introduced into New Zealand from Europe, only 2 or 3 years before. So 'foreign' sponges can be eaten at least by some dorids.

Anyway at this stage anything is worth a try.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Aug 19). Comment on Re: Chromodoris willani for sale in Brazil by Paulo Rubens Cabral. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2897

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