Tritonia nilsodhneri in NE Atlantic

October 18, 2001
From: Bernard Picton

Hi Bill,
I've just seen the recent pictures from Baki Yokes of this species from Turkey, and it does make me wonder what is going on with the diet of this species. In the NE Atlantic the normal colour is salmon pink, but I have seen white individuals, not always matching their sea-fans, Eunicella verrucosa.

Eunicella verrucosa is normally salmon-pink but most populations have a few white ones. On the west coast of Ireland in Galway Bay the entire population of Eunicella is white (presumably reflecting restricted gene-flow at the edge of the species' range). The most northerly populations are in Donegal Bay, the next big inlet to the north, here about 5-10% of the fans are white.

Here are some of my photos to illustrate this variety. I've also sent in a separate message what I think is Tritonia nilsodhneri on a different type of sea fan, perhaps Leptogorgia, off Galicia in NW Spain. Here they were all grey in coloration, on a red sea fan.

UPPER RIGHT: Longue Pierre, Guernsey, Channel Isles - July 1987 - individual and spawn on fan with expanded polyps - showing effectiveness of camouflage
LOWER LEFT: Scilly Isles, SW England - April 2001 - white individual on white fan
LOWER RIGHT: Scilly Isles, SW England - April 2001 - mating pink individuals on pink fan

Bernard

bernard.picton.um@nics.gov.uk

Picton, B.E., 2001 (Oct 18) Tritonia nilsodhneri in NE Atlantic. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5488

Thanks Bernard,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Oct 18). Comment on Tritonia nilsodhneri in NE Atlantic by Bernard Picton . [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5488

Factsheet

Tritonia nilsodhneri

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