Sea Hares from Florida

March 16, 2005
From: Stephanie

Hello,
Today while walking on the beach in Miami, Florida, I came across a large number of what appeared to be somekind of gelatinous creatures. It appeared as though they were beaching themselves and dieing in this particular area. They were very dark in color, and were releasing some type of purple ink. I tried putting several back into the water in hopes that they would continue living, but no luck. What are they, and what forced so many to beach wash upon the shore? Don't have any pics, but they looked like giant slugs, and the "ink" they were excreting was very strong, as the color remained vivid in the water for quite some time. The area was a boat marina off of Brickell Blvd. Length: approx 10" in diameter/varied. 14 March 05

Poor creatures! No one seemed to know what they were.

Thank you,
Stephanie.

saldanasa@hotmail.com

Stephanie, 2005 (Mar 16) Sea Hares from Florida. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13340

Dear Stephanie,
Sounds like you found some Sea Hares. They often wash up in large numbers like this and they produce a purple ink. See the page on mass mortality. The two species you are most likely to find in Florida are Aplysia brasiliana and Aplysia morio.  Have a look at the Fact Sheets for those species and some of the associated messages.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Mar 16). Comment on Sea Hares from Florida by Stephanie. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/13340

Factsheet

Aplysia morio

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