Chromodoris decora feeding?

September 4, 2007
From: Denis Riek


Dear Bill,
These two Chromodoris decora were found in the Brunswick River recently. One was under a rock on a pink sponge and the other in the open. Both animals were stationary on the sponges but, being only a snorkeller I cannot confirm they were actually feeding. I have found waiting around to make observations can lead to complications (drowning!)

Locality: Brunswick River, 4-5 metres, northern New South Wales, Australia, Pacific, 17 July 2007, Rock wall in river, high tide. Length: 16 mm. Photographer: Denis Riek.

Cheers
Denis

dwriek@optusnet.com.au

Riek, D.W., 2007 (Sep 4) Chromodoris decora feeding?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20634

Dear Denis,
Thanks for this interesting observation. It is the first hint of a food sponge for C. decora, but as you say, we will need to get some further observations before we can be sure. I think we can accept your desire to stay alive as a reasonable excuse for not sticking around to see if the Chromodoris would eat the sponge. In the upper photo, and close-up, there seems to be good signs of the sponge being eaten but unfortunately the limpet-like fissurellid snail at the right of your photo could have been the culprit. Unfortunately we know even less about the diet of many marine snails than we do about nudibranchs, but many fissurellids are found closely associated with sponges, so there is a real possibility that in this case the fissurellid was the culprit.

But I think we keep a look out for C. decora and a pink sponge.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Sep 4). Comment on Chromodoris decora feeding? by Denis Riek. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20634

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