Trapania benni from S.E. Australia
March 4, 2002
From: John Chuk
Dear Bill,
Here is an in situ shot of a very small specimen of Trapania benni. The specimen was photographed on a night dive at Flinders pier, Victoria, Australia, on March 25, 2001. It was found on a pink Darwinella sp. sponge on a pier pylon at a depth of 3m and measured 5mm in length.
Close inspection reveals the presence of minute, dark centred polyps living on the surface of the sponge. Your recent comments on Trapania food made me wonder if these polyps may be the food source for T. benni. Could they be entoprocts? All the diagrams I have been able to find of entoprocts show them to have relatively short tentacles whereas these polyps have relatively long tentacles and look very hydroid-like in morphology. I'd be interested in your thoughts on the subject.
Best wishes,
John.
jchuk@giant.net.au
Chuk, J., 2002 (Mar 4) Trapania benni from S.E. Australia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6337Dear John,
Thanks for the photo. I am pretty sure the little brown spots with a whitish 'ring' around then are entoprocts. I am preparing a page on entoprocts so hopefully that will answer your questions. At the moment I am having difficulty finding any detailed information on Australian species, but from my observations they can have quite long tentacles. I am not sure what the brown pigment patch is. There are often one or two brown patches in each individual but I don't know if they are waste material in the gut or what.
Cheers,
Bill Rudman
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