Seahares in New Zealand

March 6, 2002
From: Leanne Ticehurst

Hi there,
I am a new diver to New Zealand waters, I have to say it's more than I was giving it credit for. Anyway, I was diving off the south coast of Wellington, NZ in Island Bay and came across my first Sea Hare in any of my diving. The one I saw was about a foot in length and the body black with a flowing mane of black/greyish stripes running horizontally down the back, the thing that really got me though was after looking at it for at least 4-7 minutes it started to eject a pink/lilac fluid, initially I thought it was an octopus but further examination showed it wasn't. It wasn't provoked at all only 2 divers about 5 inches away from it trying to work out what we were seeing, and it was attached to a rock by it's black part.
I am hoping that you may be able to provide me with some more information about this incredible creature as I am keen to keep an eye out for more of them, this was the only one I saw from both my dives here.
Thanks heaps,
Leanne Ticehurst
Wellington,
New Zealand.

ljt_rowfreak@hotmail.com

Ticehurst, L., 2002 (Mar 6) Seahares in New Zealand. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6354

Dear Leanne,
Your animal was obviously a Sea Hare. If you look at the Sea Hares page you will find links to other pages with information on these fascinating animals.

Unless you can send me a photo it is a bit difficult to be sure which species you have seen. However from your estimate of its length I would suspect it was probably Aplysia dactylomela, which is the only species reported to grow that large in New Zealand.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Mar 6). Comment on Seahares in New Zealand by Leanne Ticehurst. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6354

Factsheet

Aplysia dactylomela

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