Sea hares bioprospecting

February 28, 2006
From: Tom Hinchey

Hi all,
I am trying to find out information on commercial demand for sea hares. I have done some preliminary research and found that a number of compounds have been isolated from both the eggs of seahares and the fluid they emit when agitated are of interest to the pharmaceutical industry. I am in a management role in a large aquaculture operation near Cairns, in Far north Queensland, Australia, and am looking to see if the sea hares which grow and multiply rapidly at our facility are of any commercial value [Length: approx 130 mm]. We believe we know what species we have (a member of the Aplysiidae family), we are not sure however, if there is likely to be any demand for the commercial quantities that we could produce.
Any information or contacts would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Tom

tomhinchey@bigpond.com

Hinchey, T., 2006 (Feb 28) Sea hares bioprospecting. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15952

Dear Tom,
There has been some work on the possible antibiotic activity of aplysiid egg masses, but most secondary metabolites isolated from sea hares are from their algal food, and do seem to have attracted the interest of pharmaceutical companies. This can be compared with the huge interest in sponges, soft corals, and the nudibranchs that eat them, which harbour a vast array of molecules which 'do things' to various metabolic pathways in humans.

There is a large Aplysia culturng facility in Florida  - the NIH-Aplysia Resource Facility in Miami [see message #360]. Most of their output is sold for research into brain and nerve research centres. The researchers prefer to stick to one laboratory bred species, Aplysia californica, so they have a standard animal.

You don't mention what species you have but I ssupect it may be Bursatella leachii which seems to be a common inhabitant of aquaculture ponds in tropical Australia. Perhaps someone has better information or can suggest another contact, but my first thought would be to look up the NIH-Aplysia Resource Facility website
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2006 (Feb 28). Comment on Sea hares bioprospecting by Tom Hinchey. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/15952

Factsheet

What are Sea Hares?

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