Hancockia burni ? at Woody Point Queensland [2]

November 13, 2008
From: David Mullins

Dear Bill,

To accompany message #22025, here are some more pics of the Hancockia  showing the anterior ventral features, detail of the cerata and the midline dorsal papillae.

Locality: Woody Point, Redcliffe Peninsula, Moreton Bay, intertidal, Queensland, Australia., Pacific Ocean, 09 August 2008, weed covered intertidal rocks. Length: 7 mm. Photographer: David Mullins.

Kind regards,
David Mullins

marineimages@hotmail.com

Mullins, D.A., 2008 (Nov 13) Hancockia burni ? at Woody Point Queensland [2]. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22027

Dear David,

Thanks very much for these photos. The branched papillae [gills] down the dorsal midline are certainly very conspicuous but I assume they can retract to a small 'bump' on the skin. The rounded nodules on the 'fingers' of the cerata are quite interesting, because they contain nematocysts - the stinging cells from their food. These are interesting, because we normally think that aeolid nudibranchs are the only nudibranchs that store nematocysts [see cnidosac Fact Sheet]. In Hancockia, these nematocyst-storing nodules occur not only on the 'cerata' but also on the back, sides of body, and even on the rhinophore sheaths.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2008 (Nov 13). Comment on Hancockia burni ? at Woody Point Queensland [2] by David Mullins. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/22027

Factsheet

Hancockia sp. 1

Related messages

  1. Hancockia burni? at Woody Point Queensland [1]
    From: David Mullins, November 13, 2008
  2. Hancockia from Izu, Japan
    From: Haruo Kinoshita, January 25, 2001

Show factsheet and all related messages