Piseinotecus gabinierei - egg ribbon?

November 7, 2008
From: Miquel Pontes

Concerning message #20009:

Dear Bill,
in our last dive we came across Piseinotecus gabinierei, in this case we found it at 15 meters of water, over the remains of the Llanishen shipwreck in Cala Caials, Cadaqués (Spain).

Apparently this is a very rare nudibranch in our coast, so our observation was used by Dr. Manuel Ballesteros (University of Barcelona) to publish a paper where this was rated as the first finding of this nudibranch in the North East coast of Spain.

Locality: Cala Caials, Cadaqués, Girona, 15 metres, Spain, Mediterranean Sea, 25 october 2008, Shipwreck covered with algae over rocky bottom. Length: 15 mm.. Photographer: Miquel Pontes.

The animal we found this time was about 15 mm long and was resting on an algae branch (Sphaerococcus coronopifolius ).

It was interesting to view the slightly ringed rhinophores (as discussed in my previous post for this nudibranch) but also of an egg ribbon which we could not make it clear if it was belonging to this species, or if the animal was feeding on it, as it is supposed that P.gabinierei feeds upon hydrarians.

I wanted to share this picture with you and the forum participants to discuss the subject.

Best regards,
Miquel Pontes.

miquelpontes@gmail.com

Pontes, M., 2008 (Nov 7) Piseinotecus gabinierei - egg ribbon?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22012

Thanks Miquel,

Hopefully someone will be able to comment on the egg ribbon of this species. Concerning its food, Vicente in his original description mentions that the nematocysts in its cnidosacs were from the hydroid Eudendrium, so I think we can be sure that its presence on the algae is through convenience rather than necessity.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2008 (Nov 7). Comment on Piseinotecus gabinierei - egg ribbon? by Miquel Pontes. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22012

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Piseinotecus gabinierei

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