Polly Pirate 0 Posted September 20, 2012 Found at 10 feet in Bequia, St Vincent and the Grenadines. An interesting type of sap sucker that I haven't seen here before. Identification help please! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jander4454 15 Posted September 20, 2012 Possibly Chelidonura berolina Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Polly Pirate 0 Posted September 20, 2012 Am I right in my research that they are now classified as Chelidonura africana? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jander4454 15 Posted September 21, 2012 According to WORMS C, berolina is an accepted species - http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=532602 but Rudman believes C. berolina is 'is almost certainly a synonym' of C. africana - http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/chelafri Take your pick! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leslie 0 Posted September 21, 2012 As far as we know Chelidonura species eat flatworms rather than green algae like the true sap-suckers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gina 9 Posted September 21, 2012 (edited) As far as we know Chelidonura species eat flatworms rather than green algae like the true sap-suckers. I'm curious about this term "sap-sucker" being applied to marine creatures. I didn't realize algaes had sap. Any idea why they have that name? Thanks, Gina Edited September 21, 2012 by gina Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leslie 0 Posted September 22, 2012 You're right, algae don't have sap. I suspect the name is just a catchy alliteration & over-simplification of what's really happening. "Sap-suckers" are members of the opisthobranch order Sacoglossa and feed by sucking out the internal contents of algal cells. For more info about sacoglossans check out the wikipedia entry - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacoglossa - or browse through some of the posts on the Sea Slug Forum - www.seaslugforum.net - Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Polly Pirate 0 Posted September 23, 2012 Thanks for the links Leslie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites