Sea Hare in the surf - Florida

July 18, 2006
From: Noah Steed

Concerning message #17084:

I'd like to report that we spotted this species, Aplysia morio, swimming in the surf at Panama City Beach, Florida -- at least one specimen every day July 8th through July 12th 2006. The sizes ranged from 3 to 4 inches. What's the explanation for the firmness of the bulbous part in the back. We thought it was a cuttlefish because it inked and we could feel something solid inside. Everyone had fun playing with them. They're not harmed by light handling I hope. I'd never seen them before and wonder if the fact that they were in the surf means they were dying. There'd been no heavy weather to wash them up.

Locality: Panama City Beach, 3 to 8 feet, Florida, USA, Gulf of Mexico, 12 July 2006, Surf Zone. Length: 3 to 4 inches

Noah Steed

noah@netmav.com

Steed, N., 2006 (Jul 18) Sea Hare in the surf - Florida. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17153

Dear Noah,
The firmness you felt was indeed a shell, but unlike the 'shell' of a cuttlefish, which is a flotation device made up of many thin calcified layers, the shell of a Sea Hare is a single thin layer almost totally lacking in calcium carbonate. If you go to the General Topics list you will find a whole section on Sea Hares with lots of background information. In particular have a look at the Shell in Sea Hares page and the Sea Hare mantle cavity page.

If your sea hares were in the surf zone it is possible they were dying. I suspect that once they get into moving and churned up water they don't have the strength to swim or crawl out of it.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Jul 18). Comment on Sea Hare in the surf - Florida by Noah Steed. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/17153

Factsheet

Aplysia morio

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