Please help......daughter needs info

February 15, 2001
From: Grace Brookshire

We recently moved to the south west coasts of Florida, while eating at a waterside restaurant my daughter went down to the shore to play and noticed several large sea-slugs floating in the water almost up on the shore. We believe there were Hydatina physis (Rose petal) slugs and were quite large, lovely, and docile. There was light near the water and may be way there were several there so close to shore....we> haven't studied them enough yet to know whether this is "normal" behavior. It has been unseasonably cool here this winter and i understand that the manatees and other marine life are coming closer to shores and dying frequently.

My daughter, being 8, and very curious, always wants to "pet" any wildlife she sees....even though i have tried to explain to her that it may hurt them or transmit germs that they are not used to. She really wants to "play" with them....gently if possible.....could be a future marine biologist budding here.

Could you please tell us where to go to find out basic info. about interacting with these lovely sea hares? Any info you might lend would certainly be appreciated...especially by the slugs...i'm sure!

Thank you so much,
Grace Brookshire
Sarasota, Florida, USA

gbmeerkat1@home.com

Brookshire, G., 2001 (Feb 15) Please help......daughter needs info. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3809

Dear Grace,
If you have a look through the Sea Slug Forum, you may be able to identify the animal yourself. There is a page on Hydatina physis so you'll be able to see if that is that species. [Just click on any underlined word to go to a relevant page] You also mention Sea Hares. Have a look at the General Topics Index where you will find a number of pages of general information on Sea Hares. Two species which are commonly found swimming and stranded in Florida are Aplysia brasiliana and Aplysia dactylomela.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Feb 15). Comment on Please help......daughter needs info by Grace Brookshire. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/3809

Factsheet

Aplysia brasiliana

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