Home Acknowledgments Conventions Glossary Maps References Links Articles Thumbnails Species list Family Next species _______________   Additional Photos   2nd animal   head   cerata	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) 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.
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