Flabellina verrucosa

Image courtesy of Jerry Shine
Old Garden Beach in Rockport, MA.

The Webmaster is filling in for Dave Behrens who is on a much needed vacation! This week's subject is Flabellina verrucosa . In Dave and Ali Hermosillo's book EASTERN PACIFIC NUDIBRANCHS, the following description is provided:

"...Body grey to white with three opaque branches between the rhinophores and follows the oral tentacles. The white rhinophores are tipped with orange, as are the oral tentacles. Ceratal cores ore orange to red, while the cerata are tipped with white to yellow.."

Jerry Shine in his new book NUDIBRANCHS OF THE NORTHEAST amplifies on the above description with the following:

"...The color of the their cerata varies from orange to red to brown to purple, depending on what they've eaten. Because of this, color can never be used t identify them. Their cerata are always arranged in cluster, anywhere from five to seven of them on each side of the body. They also have a white stripe down their back, while their tentacles and rhinophores are also flecked with white..." Jerry's commentary on Flabellina verrucosa gets even more interesting with the following observations:

"...F. verruscosa feed on a number of different hydroids, switching fron one to another as the hydroid populations change, and perhaps as the individual nuibranchs age. They live for about one year.

There's strong evidence that when F. verrucosa chemically detect the presence of either cunner or spiny sunstars, two of their main predators, they will adjust their diet to whatever species of avilable hydroid will provide the most penetrating types of nematocyst to fight off cunner or spiny sunstar attacks.

F. verrusoca live on both sides of the North Atlantic, both sides of the North Pacific, and in the Arctic, at depths ranging from the intertidal all the way down to about 1500 feet..."

For additional information on the taxonomy of F. verrucosa , the reader is invited to visit Bill Rudman's Sea Slug Forum .

With information like the above, how can NUDIBRANCHS OF THE NORTHEAST not be a part of your nudibranch library? Treat yourself! After all, it's Christmas!

Nudibranchs of the Northeast covers 28 different species of nudibranchs found along the coast from Canada to New Jersey. It's an oversized book, measuring 8.5 inches by 10 inches, and includes 100 color photos, most of which show the nudibranchs at many times their actual size. The book costs $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. Purchase can be made through www.jerryshine.com. or Send Jerry email at jerry@jerryshine.com WEBMASTER'S NOTES: After reviewing Nudibranchs of the Northeast, the first action item that came to mind was to relocate all my cold weather dive gear and buy a ticket for the East Coast! The photography is par excellence and there is narry a "tub shot" to be seen in the entire book! As an added bonus, the author took great pains to incorporate his diving knowledge/obervations into the narrative of each species! This is a super book for the naturalist and professional alike! How can you go wrong for $30??? Michael Miller Webmaster San Diego, Calif

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