Sea Hares from the Marianas Islands

July 28, 1999
From: Gary Hewitt

We live on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands. My son and I were snorkeling inside the reef in about five feet of water on a full moon and came across what appeared to be two large slugs on the sandy bottom near a coral block. The "slugs were about six to nine inches long and about four inches in diameter with clearly defined antennae. Both had a slit down the back with a "flap" and when disturbed sent a cloud of dark red "ink" from the slit. The slugs had the ability to open and close the slit. The slugs were the color of an octopus when it goes white. It was very interesting.

Gary Hewitt

ghewitt@saipan.com

Hewitt, G., 1999 (Jul 28) Sea Hares from the Marianas Islands. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1126

Dear Gary,
It sounds like you came across a couple of Sea Hares, many species of which produce the reddish ink you mention. Have a look at the picture of Aplysia dactylomela 'inking', and at the page of general information on Sea Hares. Also if you go to the General Topics Index you will find a list of pages dealing with Sea Hares. One of these has a list of species described in the Forum. You might recognise the species of your animal from some of those photos. They were either a species of Aplysia or possibly the related Dolabella auricularia.

If you are not familiar with the Sea Slug Forum, each page has a general summary at the top and then a number of messages underneath. It pays to read the messages as most of them have more information in the 'answer' accompanying them.

If you make any other interesting observations, or take photos of any nudibranchs or other slugs, they would be welcome on the Forum.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 1999 (Jul 28). Comment on Sea Hares from the Marianas Islands by Gary Hewitt. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1126

Factsheet

What are Sea Hares?

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