Sea Hare from Puerto Rico

April 15, 2002
From: Natalie Manno

I first came in contact with this bold colored creature when I was walking along the shore of a small island in Puerto Rico about 3 years ago. I am very interested in marine life, so I poked at it with a small piece of coral to see if it was aggressive. After nothing happened I scooped it up in my hand and slowly lifted it out of the water to get a better look. I had never seen anything like it before, so I took a few pictures, and then put it back in the sea weed bed where I found it. I showed some friends who scuba dive and nobody seemed to know what it was. I'm now a biology student in college and came across sea slugs while studying molluscs, which led me to this website which I think is very informative. I now know I had found a sea hare, light green with dark green circles [Aplysia dactylomela]. My question is this; are they in anyway harmful to humans? Should I have picked up the one I found? Did I hurt it by picking it up?
Sincerely,
Natalie Manno
North Tonawanda, NY

gitana0709@aol.com

Manno, N., 2002 (Apr 15) Sea Hare from Puerto Rico. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6731

Dear Natalie,
In the normal course of events Sea Hares are not dangerous to humans. If you have a look at the Sea Hares page you will find links to a lot more information on this fascinating group of sea slugs. Be sure to look at the messages at the bottom of each page as they often contain a lot of interesting observations and comments. Lifting them out of the water for a look is also unlikely to damage them as long as you don't let them dry out.

I guess you weren't thinking of eating them as that can be a bit risky. Have a look at Peter Taylor's message and the subsequent discussion concerning dogs eating Sea Hares in Western Australia.
best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2002 (Apr 15). Comment on Sea Hare from Puerto Rico by Natalie Manno. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/6731

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