Sea Hare? swimming
January 6, 2004
From: A. Agnost
I just (a couple of hours ago - 30 December 2003) saw a sea creatures which I have not seen before in my 57 yrs of life in Greek waters!
My immediate reaction was to search the web (of course). The closest I could find was the pix you have on this site. However the creature I saw was swimming slowly but deliberately right below the surface of the water, waving its winglike membranes like bat wings only much more gracefully; every so often it would stick its head a tiny bit out of the water. It had a round (almost pregnant looking) body. Its wings seemed to be fixed below this round body. Its neck would "stick" out of the winged part about 8-10 centimeters. It had a little "tail" section, about one or two centimeters beyond the end of its wings and it seemed to have two little tiny feet at the back with a tiny (third) one in the middle like a little tail. It was excreting some substance occasionally and it was definitely looking (or turning toward) at me as I was watching it. Its long neck was very flexible and agile.
So what do you make of it? I have been diving and snorkeling almost as far back as I can remember in these waters and have never seen anything like it ! Its color was dark brown almost black. Unfortunately no camera was available at the time!
The pictures in your article appear to be something like it only the one I saw was not wrapped up and did not have any spots. I would appreciate any info on the subject.
I'll go back with a camera, see if it would still be around. Who knows, maybe it is looking for a place to lay eggs (?).
Thanks
A. Agnost
tmgp2000@yahoo.com
Agnost, A., 2004 (Jan 6) Sea Hare? swimming. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/11777Dear M. Agnost,
Your animal sounds like it was a Sea Hare swimming. The most likely one would be Aplysia fasciata. If you scroll down the messages you will find quite a few with photos of this species swimming, including a message from Greece. I also discuss some of the reasons they sometimes swim in another message. Photos are always welcome.
Best wishes
Bill Rudman
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