Gday all,

Im writing a paper on feeding in Tonnidae.  Ive collected numerous
observations from the field and the literature on feeding in the genus
Tonna.

Despite some early reports to the contrary, Tonna appears to feed
exclusively on sea cucumbers, almost always by engulfing them with their
huge, extensible proboscis.  Its quite amazing to watch and the cuke often
puts on an equally stellar defensive display, sometimes to good effect.

I neednt catch them in the act of feeding to record their prey as they also
have the wonderful property of recording their last few meals: I simply
isolate them in a clean bucket for a day or two and they soon defecate sea-
cucumber spicules, which can then be identified to species.

However, I have yet to run across in the field or in the literature examples
of feeding in the tonnid Malea (Quimalea).  Its thickened and ornamented lip
would seem to rule out Tonna-style feeding and possibly therefore, a diet of
cukes.

Hence, has anyone ever seen or heard of a Malea feeding and if so, what was
it feeding on?

Best Regards,

Alex

Alexander M Kerr
Centre for Coral Reef Biodiversity
Department of Marine Biology
James Cook University
Townsville QLD 4811 Australia
Tel: 61 7 4779 9758
http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mbiolaq/staff/akerr.html
http://kerrlab.atspace.com/

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