PREDATORS
The strings of eggs laid by Opisthobranchs are rarely attacked and eaten by predators even though most are laid out in the open and appear extremely vulnerable (Figure 6) (Coleman 2001). The only known predators seem to be other nudibranchs.
Compounds from opisthobranch egg masses are currently under study.
Despite all of the survival systems of opisthobranchs and H. physis specifically (refer to ‘Defense Mechanisms’ section), some are preyed on by swimming crabs, sea stars, anemones, flatworms, otheropisthobranchs, univalves and fish.
Figure 6. Egg mass of H. physis (Rudman, W.B., 2005).
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