Liz Morris Hello nudi-lovers. I was wondering if this is the strange colour morph of Tritonia plebia shown previously in photos by Sarah Bowen. I've been looking everywhere for a species with similar oral processes, as its not frilly enough to be T hombergii I think. It was probably approx 25mm, on Alcyonium glomeratum in the Isles of Scilly.
Sarah Bowen Well, the one I posted was also from the Scillies, and it has multiple processes at the front, so I'd say yes! But since I was so desperate to get mine recognised as such, I would, wouldn't I?!
Liz Morris Cool.. well maybe this is the same one :) He's made fame at last! Pleased that you think hes a plebia too. thanks Sarah Bowen.
Brendan Oonk I would say T. plebeia. The ones I saw in the Netherlands were completely white, no dark patches
João Pedro Silva At first I thought it was nothing more than a piece of algae on Alcyonium glomeratum. But... there was something odd about it so I took one shot and went along with my buddy. It was under 1cm long. Farilhões, Berlengas, Portugal (Lat=39.472245,Lon=-9.546089), 27m deep, water temp. ~17ºC (19ºC at the surface). Any ideas on ID?
Vasco Ferreira Bugula?
João Pedro Silva :) Forgot to mention my doubt is on the ID of the crab :)
Kirstie Harris He's lovely! Good spot, you must have sharp eyes.
João Pedro Silva Wish they were better, Kirstie Harris. Only found out it was a crab when looking at the photo on the computer screen.
Kirstie Harris I love photos like that, when you spot something you hadn't realised was there :)
João Pedro Silva Over 100 here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/sets/72157625904859297/
João Pedro Silva Lots of these eggs masses around today, mostly associated with Alcyonium glomeratum (I think...). Don't recall seeing them at this place before. Any idea on the "parents'" ID?
Also found Tritonia hombergii for the first time today, rolling on the sandy bottom. No Alcyonium digitatum in sight, though.
Peter H van Bragt Where these spawn big and fat??? Could very well be T hombergii
João Pedro Silva Not sure how to handle "big" and "fat". They were rather big but the diameter was ~5-6cm. Some were slightly pink.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/8448904534/
The single T. hombergii I found there was ~4-5cm long.
João Pedro Silva The size reminded me of the spawn of Dondice banyulensis but these are thinner and very different in shape:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/5190093660
Peter H van Bragt Pink is often seen in T hombergii spawn. One can never be sure but it seems to be a candidate.
Jim Anderson These look like Tritonia hombergii spawn to me.
I have a few examples here
Jim Anderson http://www.nudibranch.org/Scottish%20Nudibranchs/tritonia-hombergii.html
João Pedro Silva Thanks! I hope they're still around next week :)
Tony Gilbert Check out Tritonia plebia's spawn, if there are any piks for that.
There maybe a subtle difference between the two. T. plebia likes A. digtatum, not so sure about A. glomeratum though.
Jim Anderson T. plebeia spawn is quite different and considerably smaller - see here
http://www.nudibranch.org/Scottish%20Nudibranchs/html/tritonia-plebeia-spawn.html
Tony Gilbert Thanks Jim, always good to discount what is not.
