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Additional Photos
![](../thumbnails/Herviella-mietta-245bs.jpg)
2nd animal
![](../thumbnails/Herviella-mietta-245cs.jpg)
head
![](../thumbnails/Herviella-mietta-245es.jpg)
cerata
![](../general/spacer.jpg)
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Herviella mietta Marcus & Burch, 1965
![Herviella mietta](../photos/Herviella-mietta-245a.jpg)
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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