Nematocysts in Glaucilla

January 20, 2001
From: Julia Busch

Is there any actual research about Glaucilla's utilization of nematocysts?
Julia Busch

tronic78@gmx.de

Busch, J., 2001 (Jan 20) Nematocysts in Glaucilla. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3568

Dear Julia,
Although Glaucus atlanticus and Glaucilla marginata are in separate genera, this is probably an unnecessary inflation of their taxonomic rank. In anatomy and natural history they are very close and probbaly should be in a single genus. To my knowledge there are only the two papers by Thompson & Bennett which study the nematocysts found in the cnidosacs of these two species, and they identified them as belonging to Physalia and Porpita. They also showed that the nudibranchs accumulate the largest, most penetrating, nematocysts from their prey. The references are on the Glaucus atlanticus Page.

Is your interest general, or are you undertaking some research on these fascinating animals?
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Jan 20). Comment on Nematocysts in Glaucilla by Julia Busch. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3568

Factsheet

Glaucilla marginata

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