Aplysia
sea hares
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Description
Aplysia is a genus of sea hares in the family Aplysiidae. They are soft-bodied, medium to very large sea slugs, coloured from grey and green to brown or black, that graze on algae in shallow tropical and some temperate waters. The genus occurs in the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic and in the Mediterranean; one species, A. dactylomela, was first recorded in the Mediterranean in 2002, probably spreading with warming waters.
Identification
Sea hares have a soft body with a pair of lateral lobes (parapodia) over the back, a thin transparent internal shell visible through an opening in the mantle, and long ear-like rhinophores next to short oral tentacles. Many species release ink or a purple secretion when disturbed. The parapodia differ between species in how they join posteriorly; in A. punctata they are fused at the back, so they are not used for swimming.
Species in this genus (3)
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/genus/Aplysia/