Sargassum sea slugs in Gulf of Mexico [1]

February 22, 2010
From: Denice Drass

Dr. Rudman,
these specimens were collected in Sargassum with a neuston net offshore off Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico in February of 2008 at around 5 am. I have wondered about how different they are and was given your website to send the pictures to. I did not measure the specimens, however the diameter of the lid that the specimens are floating in is 90 mm.

Locality: 28.00 N, 90.00 W, offshore of Lousiana, Gulf of Mexico, 09 February 2008, neuston. Photographer: Denice Drass.

Denice Drass

Denice.Drass@noaa.gov

Drass, D.M., 2010 (Feb 22) Sargassum sea slugs in Gulf of Mexico [1]. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23255

Dear Denice,

In your upper photo I can make out 3 different animals. I assume they are all part of the fascinating assemblage of animals which have made the beds of floating brown algae their special habitat. The brown 'lump' on the left of your photo is an aeolid nudibranch which I will discuss in a separate message [#23257] and the blue-marked orange shrimp at the bottom right could well be one of the Sargassum 'family' but you will need to check with a crustacean expert. The larger slug with two large blue spots on each side is Scyllaea pelagica, and is a well known member of the Sargassum fauna. As you will find in an earlier message [#2066] its unique way of life was reported nearly 200 years ago

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2010 (Feb 22). Comment on Sargassum sea slugs in Gulf of Mexico [1] by Denice Drass. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23255

Factsheet

Scyllaea pelagica

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