Monday, June 3, 2013

Navanax inermis (?)

Two weeks ago, the class took a trip to Moss Landing to try to find intertidal worms. While wading through a tide pool in the mud, Chris Lang found a gelatinous egg mass with yellow ribbons throughout that we believe was laid by a nearby Navanax inermis (Phylum Mollusca, Class Gastropoda, Order Opistobranchia). Though this identification is only a hypothesis, this organism's developmental pattern has thus far mirrored that of my Hermissenda embryos, and the Navanax we found was the only visible Opisthobranch in the area.

It's interesting to note that these particular veligers are incredibly yolky until they hatch (more pictures to show the post-hatch transformation are coming soon!), and they have a very distinct red spot on their left-hand side (the spot will eventually darken significantly, as it has in certain individuals below).

Egg mass:


Veligers inside egg mass:


Veligers inside capsules:





Is this the culprit?



UPDATE: 
     The hatched veligers are significantly less yolky than they were when they were still encapsulated, and as mentioned above, their spots have darkened. They are just as active as the Hermissenda veligers, and are near impossible to catch resting. In the videos and pictures below, you can clearly see the eye spots at the base of the velum as well as a protrusion of either muscle or shell (it looks like shell, but it is ciliated on one side) where the shell meets the velum. Gut cilia are also active.





- Andrew Miller

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