Nudibranchs feeding on Dendronephthya
PHOTO
The soft coral Dendronephthya with the nudibranch Dermatobranchus. Fly Point, Port Stephens, NSW, Australia. December 1986. PHOTO: Bill Rudman.
Species of two genera of arminid nudibranchs are known to feed on species of the soft coral Dendronephthya. See the pages on Armina cygnea and Dermatobranchus sp. 1.
Authorship detailsRudman, W.B., 1998 (August 7) Nudibranchs feeding on Dendronephthya. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/dendfeed
Related messages
nudibranchs eating Dendronephthya
August 7, 1998
From: Kevin Strychar
Can anyone direct me to information, or tell me about the types of nudibranchs and/or related sea slugs associated with the soft coral Dendronephthya?
Kevun Strychar
Strychar, K., 1998 (Aug 7) nudibranchs eating Dendronephthya. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/195Dear Kevin,
The only nudibranchs I know to be associated with Dendronephthya and related soft corals are arminids. Species of Dermatobranchus, which rarely exceed 10mm in length are often found clustered on these tree-like soft corals. This year, Armina cygnea was reported in the Sea Slug Forum to also feed on Dendronephthya. Unlike species of Dermatobranchus, which crawl on the colony eating off individual polyps, the much larger Armina cygnea eats large chunks out of the soft coral.
If anyone else has observations on nudibranchs feeding on Dendronephthya, or for that matter, any feeding observations, please let us know.
Unfortunately a bug in our computer cut off your email address. Could you let me know what it is please ... Bill Rudman.
Rudman, W.B., 1998 (Aug 7). Comment on nudibranchs eating Dendronephthya by Kevin Strychar. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/195