Dendronotus frondosus? from British Columbia

June 18, 2002
From: Marli Wakeling

Hi Bill,
We found this animal whilst diving in the Broughton Archipelago. I had on a small framer, so a friend took the picture. I have never seen a specimen of this size, (usually 5mm and not entirely positive about the I.D.) and never so bushy. The thing that struck us all were the strange yellow-orange spikes down its back: you can make out several in the photo, but not as clearly as we all saw them. We all agreed they looked like traffic cones! The colour appeared flourescent orange without light. I discussed the photo with Dave Behrens, and although it looks like a Dendronotus frondosus, the spikes are an anomaly to the species. It was eating Garveia annulata, a bright orange hydroid, and Tubularia crocea, a pink hydroid. The following week,just north of the area, one of the divers saw another one which was smaller but had the spikes, but alas, no photo.

Dive Site: Marg's Wall, Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia, Canada
Depth: 65 feet
Length: 3 inches
Date: May 19, 2002
Photo: Dave Twitchet

Marli

scubamarli@excite.com

Wakeling, M., 2002 (Jun 18) Dendronotus frondosus? from British Columbia. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7139

Thanks Marli,
Perhaps the bright yellow cones are papillae that have taken up some of the bright yellow pigment from Garveia annulata? I can't say anything sensible about species ID so I would welcome any comments from out northern hemisphere colleagues,
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Jun 18). Comment on Dendronotus frondosus? from British Columbia by Marli Wakeling. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/7139

Factsheet

Dendronotus frondosus

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