Nudibranch?

September 6, 2000
From: Mary Arroyo

Hi,
I was diving at Casino Point on Catalina Island over the weekend and saw what I thought was a nudibranch, but there were no outer frills that I could tell. It was probably about an inch long, was sort of a dull reddish brown with tiny blue spot in two rows down it's back, and its head was blunt. If you can, please let me know if this was a nudibranch or sea slug, and where I can find a picture of it. I have looked at a few sites, but all the photos of nudibranchs show the frills.

Thank you,
Mary Arroyo

mark64@deltanet.com

Arroyo, M., 2000 (Sep 6) Nudibranch?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2914

Dear Mary,
I guess the Catalina Island you mention is in California, but even thought the World Wide Web brings us closer together, the world is still a very big place, so a few geographic clues is always a help.

I'm afraid I can't place your animal. I am not sure what you mean by 'frills'. Some nudibranchs such as aeolids have 'frilly' cerata down each side of the body, and others such as tritoniids have 'frilly' gills down each side of the body. Dorids on the other hand, of which there are many species, have a 'frilly' circle of gills at the posterior end of the mantle, but don't usually have frills down each side. Have a look at the gills of a large species of Glossodoris and the page on the dorid head for an idea of the shape of a dorid.

Did your animal look like any of these in general shape? basically I thnk I would need a picture, photo, drawing etc before I could help much more.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Sep 6). Comment on Nudibranch? by Mary Arroyo. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2914

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