A morning walk by the shore near Haji Ali turned memorable for marine enthusiast Shaunak Modi, who spotted a Glossodoris Bombayana, a bright coloured sea slug that was first described from Bombay in 1946, after which there has been no public record of its sighting.
Sea slugs are brightly coloured marine species that lack a shell. They are known to creep along to the bottom or cling to submerged vegetation, usually in waters just below the low tide line.
Modi said he spotted the slug during a walk organised for enthusiasts and citizens by the Marine Life of Mumbai (MLOM), a group dedicated to documenting marine life along the city's shores. "While walking, I saw this bright slug clinging to a rock. It seemed familiar as I had seen its photographs. I clicked several images for record purposes and tried identifying it. With the help of guidebooks and experts, I was able to confirm that it's indeed the Bombayana, which was identified by Winckworth in 1946," Modi said, adding that despite searching for it, they couldn't find any published record of the slug being spotted in Mumbai after 1946.
Dr Deepak Apte, director of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and a marine biologist, termed it a very interesting sighting. "Bombayana is special for Mumbai as its named after this city, and though it has been recorded from Raigad, Goa, Ratnagiri, etc., there has been no report of it from Mumbai," he said, adding that the slug was first recorded from the Backbay region in 1946, and the area, once the habitat of this slug, has completely changed now.
MEET THE BOMBAYANA
- It’s 3 centimetres in length and feeds on sponges.
- It has a white mantle covered with maroon polka dots and bright yellow patches along the mantle margin.
- It was first described by Winkworth in 1946 as Glossodoris Bombayana, thus named after the city.
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 "Glossodoris Bombayana")
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