Nembrotha purpureolinata - feeding?

March 29, 2006
From: Colin Ogden


[Note added 4 March 2008: This is the new species Nembrotha aurea - see message #21419]

Hi Bill,
I know we are looking for photos of various nudis feeding, but I don't know if this is one that you need info on, but looking on the forum maybe this might help. It appears to me that it is feeding, but I am not sure what it is eating.

Locality: Sodwana Bay, 30 metres, South Africa, Indian, 13 March 2006, Coral reef. Length: 30mm. Photographer: Colin Ogden.

Regards
Colin

scubaco@iafrica.com

Ogden C. M., 2006 (Mar 29) Nembrotha purpureolinata - feeding?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16112

Dear Colin,
It certainly worth sending doubtful photos in - we sometimes get lucky. Although one of the photos seems to suggest it is taking an interest in something I can't see any sign of likely prey. I would suspect that like Nembrotha lineolata [see Brian Francisco's recent message #16176] it would eat a solitary ascidian. Sometimes they are well covered in algae so all you see is their siphons, so it is possible that your Nembrotha could have been feeding on a hidden ascidian. But if that were the case you would have seen the oral tube when you moved the head. I think it must have just been 'sniffing' around.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Mar 29). Comment on Nembrotha purpureolinata - feeding? by Colin Ogden. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/16112

Factsheet

Nembrotha aurea

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