Predators of Sea Anemones

February 21, 2002
From: Chiara Caligara

My name is Chiara Caligara and I'm a graduate student of the University of Nice, France. I'm doing a research project about the predators of sea anemones. Do you have a list of the different species of nudibranchs feeding on sea anemones?
Thank you,
Chiara Caligara

chiaracaligara@hotmail.com

Caligara, C., 2002 (Feb 21) Predators of Sea Anemones. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6316

Dear Chiara,
Aeolid nudibranchs of the Family Aeolidiidae are all specialist feeders on sea anemones and their close relatives the zoanthids. Here is a list of the species on the Forum. Check through them for information on feeding.

FAMILY Aeolidiidae
Aeolidia papillosa
Aeolidiella alba
Aeolidiella alderi
Aeolidiella cf. drusilla
Aeolidiella faustina see A. cf. drusilla
Aeolidiella glauca
Aeolidiella sanguinea
Berghia coerulescens
Berghia japonica?
Berghia verrucicornis
Burnaia helicochorda
Cerberilla affinis
Cerberilla albopunctata
Cerberilla ambonensis
Cerberilla annulata
Cerberilla incola
Cerberilla sp. 1.
Cerberilla sp. 2.
Cerberilla sp. 3.
Cerberilla sp. 4.
Limenandra fusiformis
Limenandra nodosa
Limenandra sp. 1?
Limenandra sp. 2?
Protaeolidiella atra
Spurilla australis
Spurilla chromosoma
Spurilla major
Spurilla neapolitana
Unidentified aeolidiid sp. 1.

There is also Gary McDonald & James Nybakken's List of the Worldwide Food Habits of Nudibranchs at http://www2.ucsc.edu/people/mcduck/nudifood.htm. This is an excellent compilation of the published food data for nudibranchs. However it is organised with nudibranch workers in mind so to find out which 'food' items are eaten, you would need to search through the whole list. The food items are only identified to species so you would need to be pretty familiar with sea anemone species names to extract sea anemones from the list.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Feb 21). Comment on Predators of Sea Anemones by Chiara Caligara. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6316

Factsheet

Feeding

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