Okenia hiroi? from New Zealand

January 25, 2005
From: Ian Skipworth


Note added 10 Dec. 2007: This species has been identified as most probably Okenia atkinsonorum [see message #21273].

Hi Bill
I hope you don't mind another request for a slug ID. Over the last couple of weeks I have been looking particularly for small stuff and have found several slugs which I haven't seen before.

Locality: Poor Knights Islands, NE New Zealand. Depth: 10m
Length: 12mm. 15 January 2005, Rocky reef.
Photographer: Ian Skipworth

This is an odd one. When I was photographing it the rhinophores and gills weren't at all distinct and I wasn't sure it was a nudibranch. It was in about 10m of water and is about 12mm long.

Regards
Ian

ian@ianskipworth.com

Skipworth, I., 2005 (Jan 25) Okenia hiroi? from New Zealand . [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12958

Dear Ian,
I certainly don't mind answering questions like this one!. This is a species of Okenia, and I am pretty sure it is Okenia hiroi, a species known only from the NW Pacific (China, Korea, Japan). If it is in fact that species its presence in New Zealand is almost certainly a result of shipping. Species of Okenia feed on bryozoans, and those species we know about, are very particular in which bryozans they eat, so it would be nice to know what bryozoan your animal was feeding on. If you have further photos showing the slug from a different aspect, and the bryozoan in more detail, I would be very interested in seeing them. I have included a close-up from your photo to show a few of the zooids from the undamaged part of the bryozoan colony

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Jan 25). Comment on Okenia hiroi? from New Zealand by Ian Skipworth. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/12958

Factsheet

Okenia atkinsonorum

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