Goals for the New Year
January 4, 2003
From: Bill Rudman
I hadn't planned a New Year's 'message' but while I was preparing Jason Bell's photo of the sponge that Noumea sudanica feeds on, I noticed it has quite a population of small flatworms on it. This is the type of sponge that Sagaminopteron and other gastropterids are often found on. Some workers think that gastropterids feed on the sponges they are often found on but as their mouth parts are not adapted for sponge feeding my guess is that they are feeding on something that lives on the sponges. I wouldn't be surprised if they feed on small flatworms such as these. If anyone wants a goal for 2003 it would be great to find out what gastropterids actually eat.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
