Food of Leminda millecra

October 14, 2002
From: Bill Rudman

In my recent comments about Leminda millecra I mentioned that we did not know what it fed on. I have recently come across a recent paper which suggests that it eats a soft coral Alcyonium fauri and a gorgonian Leptogorgia palma

• McPhail, KL; Davies-Coleman, MT; Starmer, J. 2001. Sequestered chemistry of the arminacean nudibranch Leminda millecra in Algoa Bay, South Africa. Journal of Natural Products, 64 (9): 1183-1190.

In the paper they describe how extracts of Leminda millecra collected in Algoa Bay, South Africa, yielded four known metabolites, millecrones A (1) and B (2), isofuranodiene (5), and (+)-8-hydroxycalamenene (9), and nine new compounds, algoafuran (7), cubebenone (8), and a series of seven triprenylquinones and hydroquinones (21-27). A subsequent survey of possible octocoral prey species in Algoa Bay identified the soft coral Alcyonium fauri as the source of 1 and the gorgonian Leptogorgia palma as the species producing 2 and 8.

Cheers,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Oct 14) Food of Leminda millecra. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/8164

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