Feeding preference of Aplysia dactylomela

October 26, 2001
From: Patricia Chen

Hi Bill.
I am an undergraduate student from the University of California, Los Angeles. I am currently participating in a marine biology program at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

I am interested in doing a research project on the feeding preferences of the spotted sea hare, Aplysia dactylomela. While on scuba and snorkel around Kaneohe Bay I have discovered large numbers of A. dactylomela living on the red algae Acanthophora specifera and have become fascinated by them. However, I've been doing some research on this creature and have come across some conflicting information. Some sources say it eats only red algae while others list it as eating the green algae Caulerpa and Halimeda. I've also heard that in captivity, it prefers greens over reds. I was wondering if you could clear this up for me.

Also I was wondering if you could give me an estimate of how fast they move. I'm planning on putting each individual sea hare in a tank with 4 choices of algae so I need to choose an appropriate tank size. I've been looking in various sources and haven't found too much info on this particular sea hare. Is there any book or journal you recommend?
Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Patricia Chen

pschen@ucla.edu

Chen, P., 2001 (Oct 26) Feeding preference of Aplysia dactylomela. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5517

Dear Patricia,
Have a look at the general Sea Hares Page for links to more specific information. There is a page with referemces to scientific research on Sea Hare feeding but I am not sure if Aplysia dactyomela is one of the species that has been researched.

As a general rule it seems that sea hares can change their diet but seem to settle on red algae, different species preferring different species of red. Some species do move inshore and can live on green algae, such as Ulva, but I can't recall hearing of them feeding on Caulerpa and Halimeda so would be interested in a reference to your information.

How fast they move? I guess someone may have timed them, but I would think their size would be a more important thng to consider when deciding on what tank size to use. These sort of things are best done by trial and error. I presume you can try things out before deciding on your final experimental design. Scince may look neat and tidy when its published, but behind most neat and tidy "Methods" and "Results" sections is an incredible tangle of mistakes, errors and accidents.

Good Luck with your work. Hopefully someone can point us towards some published work on the diet of A. dactylomela
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Oct 26). Comment on Feeding preference of Aplysia dactylomela by Patricia Chen. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/5517

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Aplysia dactylomela

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