Diet of the invasive sea slug Pleurobranchaea maculata in Patagonian coastal waters

Figures & data

Table 1. Frequency of occurrence (O%) for each prey taxon in the stomach contents of Pleurobranchaea maculata from both sampling sites at Golfo Nuevo, Patagonia Argentina.

				O%
Phylum	Class	Order	Species and/or specifications	Punta Este	Folias
Porifera	Demospongiae			1.41	1.07
Nemertea	Heteronemertean			0.94	0.00
Nematoda	Nematoda			2.35	6.45
Cnidaria	Hydrozoa		Polyp stage	8.01	2.15
	Anthozoa	Actinaria		0.00	5.37
Arthropoda	Maxillopoda	Copepoda		2.83	1.07
	Malacostraca	Amphipoda		1.41	1.07
Annelida	Polychaeta		Sedentary polychaete	25.00	21.50
	Polychaeta		Errant polychaete	4.71	8.60
Mollusca	Cephalopoda	Octopoda	Octopus tehuelchus tentacle	0.47	0.00
	Bivalvia	Mytiloida	Mytilidae	0.00	5.37
	Gastropoda		Doris fontaineii (Nudibranchia)	0.00	1.07
	Gastropoda		Pleurobranchaea maculata (Pleurobranchomorpha)	0.00	1.07
Chordata	Ascidiacea	Enterogona	Diplosoma listerianum	22.17	7.52
	Vertebrata		Osteichthyes oviposition	1.88	0.00
Phaeophyta				11.32	15.05
Chlorophyta				0.94	8.60
Rhodophyta				16.50	13.97

Figure 1. Frequency of occurrence (O%) of animal (light grey) and algal (dark grey) items in the stomach contents of Pleurobranchaea maculata from both sampling sites at Golfo Nuevo, Patagonia Argentina.

Figure 2. Specimens found in stomach contents of Pleurobranchaea maculata. A–C, Polychaeta: A, Sedimentary polychaete with tentacles (arrows); B, Juvenile polychaete; C, Errant polychaete. D–E, Colonial tunicate Diplosoma listerianum: D, Zooids; E, Zooid with unhatched incubated larva (arrow); F, Hydrozoa; G Anthozoa; H Doris fontainii (Nudibranchia); I, Nematode; J, Octopus tehuelchus (Octopodidae) tentacle. Scale bars: A, D–F: 0.5 mm, B, H: 0.1 mm, C, G and J: 1 mm, I: 0.1 µm.