Home Acknowledgments Conventions Glossary Maps References Links Articles Thumbnails Species list Family Next species _______________   Additional Photos   2nd animal   head   cerata   with eggs?	Herviella mietta Marcus & Burch, 1965   Maximum size:  40 mm (Kay, 1979). Identification:  This is a distinctive, dusky gray to black animal. Natural history:  Herviella mietta is a rare species on Maui. We've only seen one animal, found in a tide pool at a moderately exposed site. It's nocturnal and, unlike most members of the family, feeds on a sea anemone: Anthopleura nigrescens (Rosens, 1969). (Note 1) It probably lays a relatively thick, white, spiral egg mass. (Note 2) Distribution:  Big Island, Maui and Oahu: widely distributed in the western & central Pacific. Taxonomic notes:  It was first reported from Hawaii in Rosin, 1969 (as Herviella sp.). Photo:  PF: found by Darcy Kehler; Napili Bay, Maui; May 21, 1997. Observations and comments: Note 1:  Although the Maui animal was found at night, the Oahu animal found by Brian Magnier was reported as "Exposed on rock in tide pool, mid-day" (pers. com.). A second Oahu animal found by Brian Deis at around 7:30 PM was reported as being "under a rock...in about 20-40 cm of water" (pers. com.). The Big Island animals were found under rocks in the early evening. Note 2:  Although they weren't caught "in the act," the association in this photo is highly suggestive. So, the masses were probably laid by this species. They are similar in form to egg masses attributed to Japanese animals on the Sea Slug Forum but differ in having proportionately smaller eggs. Bill Rudman suggests that the relatively large eggs laid by the Japanese animals support direct development. Perhaps, the smaller eggs in the Hawaiian masses support planktonic larva for the Hawaiian population?
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