Dear Mr. Herbert,
Here's the "new kid's" two cents worth, none of which addresses your
question.
I have collected few E. sulcidentata (hereinafter referred to as ES) live.
My principal collecting areas are the Indian River Estuary (Ponce Inlet to
Jupiter Inlet), and Peanut Island. Most of my collecting efforts have
occurred since 1992. I have not found any living ES in the estuary.
However, Paula Mikkelsen ("Molluscan Biodiversity in the Indian River
Lagoon, Florida," Bulletin of Marine Science, 57(1): 94-127, 1995) reports
ES from three areas of the estuary (North Indian River, Banana River, and
South Central Indian River) collected from three habitats (seagrasses, mud
and sand). She does not indicate whether these reports were of living
specimens. Her data predates the 90's and is mostly early to mid-80's.
I have twice collected live ES, as follows:
Ft. Desota Park Nov 80 On sandy/muddy flats in grass
Cedar Key Nov 96 Soft sand and sparse grass
I hope this information is helpful.
Marlo
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> From: Gregory Herbert <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Eupleura behavior
> Date: Friday, January 23, 1998 8:06 AM
>
> Hello,
> I've recently observed Eupleura sulcidentata clinging to the tips of sea
> grass blades in quiet NW Florida bays. This is interesting behavior for
a
> carnivore, but it may be to avoid predation from the abundant crabs in
the
> area. Has anyone out there observed this behavior while snorkeling or
> scuba diving? Might there be some sort of food source (i.e. tiny
> animals/worms) on these blades of grass that E. sulcidentata is seeking?
> This species is very small for the genus, and the bivalves living in the
> area would seem to me to be much too large for E. sulcidentata to handle.
> Has anyone observed E. sulcidentata feeding? If so, on what? Radwin and
> Wells (1968) attempted to determine food preferences for this species in
> an aquarium but all the animals died without eating. Any ideas?
> Thanks,
> Greg Herbert
> Loyola University
> New Orleans, LA
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