Blue plankton in Uruguay

February 16, 2002
From: Philip Miller

Recently there was a great arribada of blue plankton in our coast, in SW Atlantic ..... millions of Velella, hundreds of Physalia and Janthina, and less of Glaucus could be seen from Valizas to Santa Teresa .... would like to know about their ecology, specially their reaction to temperature and salinity changes, as well as their predator-prey relationship.

Philip Miller
FCIEN
Soriano 1510
Montevideo, 11200
Uruguay

maritimo@adinet.com.uy

Miller, P., 2002 (Feb 16) Blue plankton in Uruguay. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6211

Dear Philip,
A recent report on the Forum from Florida suggests that the populations of these fascinating animals are quite high in the western Atlantic at the moment. We have recently had large numbers washing up on the shores of southeastern Australia as well.

You will find a bit about the nudibranch members of Sir Alistair Hardy's Blue Fleet on the Forum but I'm afraid I can't help you much with the others. I suspect there is not much known about their ecology and population dynamics. The molluscan members, including the nudibranchs and the Violet Snails (Janthina spp), are voracious carnivores feeding mainly on Physalia and other cnidarians such as Porpita and Velella. I know that Physalia eats small fish, but both Porpita and Velella have symbiotic zooxanthellae in their tissues which would suggest that at least some of their nutritional requirements would be met by photosynthesis.

Great aggregations and wash-ups of these animals seems to be caused by currents and winds driving them together. Although they occur in large groups, these are usually found in the open oceans.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Feb 16). Comment on Blue plankton in Uruguay by Philip Miller. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6211

Factsheet

Glaucus atlanticus

Related messages

  1. Glaucus from South Africa
    From: Emil H Niksch, May 3, 2010
  2. Glaucus atlanticus from Florida
    From: Stephanie Armentrout, April 30, 2010
  3. Glaucus atlanticus from nthn New South Wales
    From: Jayson Dyer, April 23, 2010
  4. Re: Glaucus atlanticus from Florida
    From: Douglas Hernandez, April 6, 2010
  5. Glaucus atlanticus from Florida
    From: Emma C., April 5, 2010
  6. Blue Bottles and Nudibranch washed up at Kiama, NSW
    From: Cherie Noon, March 24, 2010
  7. Glaucus atlanticus in Hawaii
    From: Aaron Silva, January 29, 2010
  8. Glaucus atlanticus find in Northern NSW Australia
    From: Matthew Ross, January 20, 2010
  9. Glaucus atlanticus from Hawaii
    From: Enjoli' Hoskins, September 8, 2009
  10. Occurrence of albino Glaucus atlanticus?
    From: Evan Orellana, August 31, 2009
  11. Glaucus atlanticus from Pacific coast of Panama
    From: Clark Misner, May 14, 2009
  12. My Glaucus atlanticus Report
    From: Kenneth Hattersley, May 14, 2009
  13. Glaucus atlanticus in Gulf of Mexico?
    From: Kenneth Hattersley, April 7, 2009
  14. Re: Tiny, elaborate creature at Stradbroke Island, Queensland
    From: Paul Stewart, March 17, 2009
  15. Glaucus atlanticus from Kenya
    From: Debs North, January 8, 2009
  16. Tiny, elaborate creature at Stradbroke Island, Queensland
    From: Ken Thomas, December 3, 2007
  17. Glaucus atlanticus from Pacific coast of Mexico
    From: Joe Weiss, March 7, 2007
  18. Sea Lizard [Glaucus atlanticus] from New South Wales
    From: Lynne T., March 2, 2007
  19. Glaucus atlanticus mating habits
    From: Johanna Schwartz, January 29, 2007
  20. Glaucus atlanticus in Hawaii
    From: Nichol Miura, January 16, 2007
  21. What type of Nudibranch is this?
    From: Adrian Giles, January 15, 2007
  22. Re: Glaucus atlanticus on Gold Coast, Queensland
    From: Rob Alesbury, January 15, 2007
  23. Glaucus atlanticus on Gold Coast, Queensland
    From: John Campbell, December 14, 2006
  24. Glaucus eating Porpita in Hawaii
    From: Anna-Christina Amason, August 17, 2006
  25. Feeding and some trophic interactions of Glaucus atlanticus
    From: Irina Roginskaya, August 2, 2006
  26. About egg masses of Glaucus atlanticus
    From: Irina Roginskaya, May 25, 2006
  27. Unknown creature from Fraser Island, Queensland
    From: Richard Wilsher, May 9, 2006
  28. Some notes about Glaucus atlanticus
    From: Irina Roginskaya, May 9, 2006
  29. Not sure if this IS a sea slug?
    From: Mary Patterson, April 26, 2006
  30. Glaucus at Anna Bay, New South Wales
    From: Jim Doyle, March 31, 2006
  31. Re: Cannibalism in Glaucus?
    From: Peter Whiter, March 30, 2006
  32. Cannibalism in Glaucus?
    From: Peter Whiter, March 28, 2006
  33. What the ?
    From: Eve Whicker, March 23, 2006
  34. What is Filurus dubius?
    From: Gary Rosenberg, February 24, 2006
  35. Glaucus atlanticus - habitat
    From: Brandon Pinkney, February 21, 2006
  36. Is this a sea slug ??
    From: Karen Beal, February 14, 2006
  37. Blue Sea slug
    From: Liliana Alaniz, February 2, 2006
  38. Glaucus atlanticus from the Canary Islands
    From: Kim Boettcher, May 23, 2005
  39. Information on Glaucus atlanticus
    From: Kealy Baker-Clark, April 22, 2005
  40. Blue, lizard-like feather-finned tiny animal
    From: Paiton Meurer, April 14, 2005
  41. Glaucus atlanticus from Reunion Island
    From: Philibert Bidgrain, February 19, 2005
  42. Found some interesting sea slugs in Florida
    From: Sarah McDowell, January 31, 2005
  43. Neon Blue sea slug from Fraser Island?
    From: Neil Rhodes, January 1, 2005
  44. Is this a nudibranch?
    From: Scott Godwin, January 21, 2004
  45. Glaucus atlanticus from Sth Africa
    From: Juleen du Toit, January 21, 2004
  46. Glaucus atlanticus from Queensland
    From: Nick Falconer , December 3, 2003
  47. Glaucus from Wellington Pt, Brisbane
    From: Mimi & Phong, November 17, 2003
  48. Glaucus in Hawaii
    From: Chaunte Ling, May 27, 2003
  49. Mysterious blue and white swirley things
    From: Sally, April 25, 2003
  50. Re: Glaucus in Sydney
    From: Alex & Marcus Dawes, March 19, 2003
  51. Glaucus in Sydney
    From: Alex and Marcus Dawes , March 12, 2003
  52. Glaucus atlanticus from Lord Howe Island
    From: W.B. Rudman, January 24, 2003
  53. Glaucus atlanticus reference
    From: Michael Schroedl, November 14, 2002
  54. Glaucus atlanticus - observations
    From: A. Lovatt., October 21, 2002
  55. Thanks
    From: Amanda Johnson, June 15, 2002
  56. Glaucus atlanticus information
    From: Manda, June 6, 2002
  57. Re: Collaroy 'Blue Dragon' - thanks
    From: Stephen Martin, May 23, 2002
  58. Mass of blue dragon(?) nudibranchs
    From: Stephen Martin, May 20, 2002
  59. Questions about Glaucus
    From: Luke Short, April 25, 2002
  60. Glaucus from Pensacola, Florida
    From: Elvira Davis, February 4, 2002
  61. Re: Glaucus detecting prey
    From: Belinda Biggam, March 18, 2001
  62. Glaucus detecting prey
    From: Belinda Biggam, March 15, 2001
  63. Re: Glaucus
    From: Lisa, February 20, 2001
  64. Glaucus
    From: Chris Parks, August 24, 2000
  65. Information on Glaucus atlanticus
    From: Angela, August 12, 1999
  66. Eggs of Glaucus and Glaucilla
    From: Bill Rudman, May 16, 1999
  67. Glaucus & Porpita in New Zealand
    From: Ross Armstrong, March 31, 1999
  68. Re: Glaucus in New Zealand
    From: Ross Armstrong, February 26, 1999
  69. Glaucus in New Zealand
    From: Ross Armstrong, February 25, 1999

Show factsheet and all related messages