Hawaiian Polychaete & Nudibranch

[ptychoptera]

Leslie... Don... care to help me out on these?

 

[LeslieH]

Been out shopping on the reef again, eh?

The nudibranch appears to be Dendrodoris fumata which is quite variable in color: http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=dendfuma

As for the worm, it's a scaleworm in the family Polynoidae. I'd need to see more before even guessing subfamily.

 

[ptychoptera]

I probably wont be able to get any more pics of the worm; my Stenopus shrimpies seem to have a craving for scaleworm tonight. But out of curiosity, what parts would you need to see to ID it to subfamily or genus?

 

[pagojoe]

Hmm, it looks like the nudibranch has retractable rhinophores like a Platydoris? I don't know if Dendrodoris species have this feature, since I never poked one in the rhinophore to see if he'd withdraw it... Was his body stiff or soft?

I'm going to have to dig out my Hawaiian references if you keep digging up cool stuff.

Cheers,


Don

 

[LeslieH]

The head exposed, the whole body to count the number of scales, the arrangement of scales and cirri, presence/absence branchial structures, parapodia, and close ups of the setae just to start. Here's some of the characters: http://www.ceab.csic.es/~dani/Harmothoe.html

 

[pagojoe]

I had to go back and compare rhinophores, since I didn't remember the D. fumata I'd seen having this type, but after comparing them, I think Leslie is right as usual. This specimen from Reunion looks very much like yours.

http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=19902

Cheers,



Don