Aplysia dactylomela from Canary Islands
March 3, 2010
From: Claudia Stoll
Dear Bill,
I have found a spezies of a seahare on the South-West-Coast of Teneriffe (24th of March, 2008) in a little pool on the rocks of Playa de la Arena.
I suspect, it is Aplysia dactylomela. The length of the animal was about 30cm.
And I was able to make a very nice video of the seahare! Here is the link to a little part of my video in youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR5GGdBhC2k
Locality: Teneriffa, Playa de la arena, in a little pool on the beach/rocks, Spain, Canary Islands, Atlantic Ocean, 24. March 2008. Length: 30 cm. Photographer: Claudia Stoll.
And now my question is: Do you know, what the seahare is doing on this video? Is it eating? I need your help, because I`ll make a professional video film with underpin statements.
Thank you for your answer and best regards!
Claudia Stoll
from Germany
claudistoll@t-online.de
Stoll, C., 2010 (Mar 3) Aplysia dactylomela from Canary Islands. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/23288Dear Claudia,
Snails and sea slugs often crawl upside down along the surface of pools. However the surface tension can only support reasonably small animals so large Sea Hares usually don't succeed. In a shallow pool like this your Sea Hare has its front half twisted upside down attempting to crawl along the surface of the pool while its back half is still on the bottom. In you video the mouth is going through its feeding movements. Often when small opisthobranchs are successfully crawling upside down in a pool their mouths rhythmically open and shut as though they are grazing. Whether they are attempting to graze or just 'going through the motions' I couldn't say, but as I have seen hydroid-feeding aeolids and sponge-feeding dorids doing it, I suspect it is just a reflex action.
However the water surface can be a good source of food. When the water is coming in after low tide we often find large amounts of dried organic matter floating on the water surface. Some intertidal brittle stars [ophiuroid echinoderms] feed almost exclusively by waving their arms over the surface to collect this dried organic material. It's possible your Sea Hare was doing the same, but it is unlikely, as they prefer red and brown macro algae.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Related messages
-
Aplysia dactylomela from Montego Bay, Jamaica
From: Semra Halabi, November 13, 2009 -
Aplysia dactylomela from sthn Queensland
From: Gary Cobb, February 3, 2009 -
Aplysia dactylomela? from South Africa
From: Daleen Loest, October 27, 2008 -
Re: Aplysia dactylomela from Canary Ids
From: Obdulia Cabrera Hernández, October 21, 2008 -
Aplysia dactylomela egg masses from the Mediterranean
From: Antonello Greco, August 12, 2008 -
Re: Aplysia dactylomela and its egg-mass
From: Vinicius Padula, July 10, 2008 -
Re: Aplysia dactylomela and its egg-mass
From: Fabio Crocetta, July 10, 2008 -
Re: Aplysia dactylomela and its egg-mass
From: Fabio Crocetta, July 9, 2008 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Rhodes, Greece
From: Adam Gill, July 1, 2008 -
Re: Aplysia dactylomela from the Canary Islands
From: Stanley Ramsell, March 6, 2008 -
Re: Sea hare from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
From: Gary Cobb, October 10, 2007 -
Sea hare from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
From: Aimee Richer, October 9, 2007 -
Aplysia dactylomela from the Canary Islands
From: Mikkel Andersen, September 28, 2007 -
Aplysia brasiliana in eastern Mediterranean?
From: Gilbert Jaux, August 27, 2007 -
Re: Feeding studies on Aplysia in Malaysia
From: Corvin Eidens, July 20, 2007 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Sabah, Malaysia
From: Richard Swann, June 19, 2007 -
Big sea hares on Mexican beach
From: Benjamin Fisher, April 2, 2007 -
Re: Feeding preference of Aplysia dactylomela
From: Baki Yokes, November 27, 2006 -
Re: Feeding preference of Aplysia dactylomela
From: Philibert Bidgrain, November 20, 2006 -
Aplysia dactylomela - eggs and larvae
From: Jacob, Tim & Mai, November 6, 2006 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Croatia
From: Tom Turk, August 28, 2006 -
Aplysia dactylomela from the Canary Islands
From: Christian Kowalewski, August 21, 2006 -
Re: Aplysia dactylomela in Eastern Sicily
From: Andrea Corso, August 18, 2006 -
Aplysia dactylomela in Eastern Sicily
From: Agatino Reitano, August 7, 2006 -
Aplysia dactylomela in Sicily
From: Antonello Greco, August 7, 2006 -
Aplysia dactylomela in Crete, Greece
From: Stig & Sus Andersson, August 4, 2006 -
Aplysia dactylomela from the Canary Islands
From: Paul Harwood, June 15, 2006 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Florida
From: Rose Ann Maly, April 13, 2006 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Greece
From: Maria Salomidi, February 27, 2006 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Cyprus
From: Samantha Cooke, October 17, 2005 -
Aplysia dactylomela - keeping in aquarium
From: Jack Brown, September 16, 2005 -
Aplysia dactylomela 'infant' from Bahamas
From: Anne DuPont, August 27, 2005 -
Another record of Aplysia dactylomela from Greece
From: Allan David, August 11, 2005 -
Re: Aplysia dactylomela in the Eastern Mediterranean
From: Christopher Sweeting, August 1, 2005 -
Aplysia dactylomela in the Eastern Mediterranean
From: Baki Yokes, July 21, 2005 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Greece
From: Lucyna Sterniuk-Gronek, July 20, 2005 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Florida
From: Erik Sanders, May 7, 2005 -
Sea Hares in Tenerife, Canary Ids
From: Steve Andrews, April 15, 2005 -
Aplysia dactylomela from St. Martin, West Indies
From: Danny Dawson, March 18, 2005 -
Sea Hares from Netherlands Antilles
From: Bob Murphy , March 17, 2004 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Canary Ids
From: Tom + Jade, March 16, 2004 -
Aplysia dactylomela and its egg-mass
From: Marina Poddubetskaia, March 10, 2004 -
Aplysia dactylomela from the Bahamas
From: David Behr, March 1, 2004 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Western Australia
From: Monika Stambergova, February 11, 2004 -
Feeding of Aplysia dactylomela
From: Albert Diaz Garcia, January 26, 2004 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Dominica
From: Valérie Grando, January 6, 2004 -
Aplysia dactylomela(?) from Brazil
From: Vinicius Anderson, November 18, 2003 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Jamaica
From: Ross W. Gundersen, October 6, 2003 -
Re: Aplysia dactylomela from the Canary Ids
From: Ron Warne, July 2, 2003 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Senegal
From: Marina Poddubetskaia, June 24, 2003 -
Aplysia dactylomela from the Canary Ids
From: Sjoerd Westerterp, June 13, 2003 -
Information on Aplysia diet
From: Ana Karina Yepes, February 6, 2003 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Lord Howe Island
From: W.B. Rudman, January 18, 2003 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Equatorial Guinea
From: Felix Villares, October 14, 2002 -
'Mango Seeds' = Aplysia dactylomela
From: Dr. Ray McAllister, June 13, 2002 -
Spanish Dancer congregation in Florida
From: Dr. Ray McAllister, June 7, 2002 -
Aplysia dactylomela feeding
From: Anne DuPont, June 3, 2002 -
Aplysia dactylomela in the Bahamas
From: Anne DuPont, May 27, 2002 -
Colour variation in Aplysia dactylomela
From: Anne DuPont, April 21, 2002 -
Sea Hare from Puerto Rico
From: Natalie Manno, April 15, 2002 -
Seahares in New Zealand
From: Leanne Ticehurst, March 6, 2002 -
Aplysia dactylomela from the Canary Ids
From: Simon and Jill Warwick, December 5, 2001 -
Feeding preference of Aplysia dactylomela
From: Patricia Chen, October 26, 2001 -
Black Sea Hare and mystery from Curacao
From: John Dohmen, June 20, 2001 -
Re: Sea Hare from Thailand
From: Kathe R. Jensen, May 10, 2001 -
Sea Hare from Thailand
From: Walabha Sinbul, May 4, 2001 -
Re: Aplysia from South Africa
From: Richard Willan, January 17, 2001 -
More photos of possible Aplysia oculifera
From: Valda Fraser, January 14, 2001 -
Aplysia oculifera? from South Africa
From: Valda Fraser, January 10, 2001 -
Aplysia dactylomela swimming
From: Anne Dupont, December 11, 1999 -
Aplysia dactylomela from Florida
From: Anne Dupont, October 15, 1999 -
Sea Hares - Mass mortality in Florida
From: Annie Troutman, June 4, 1999 -
Aplysia dactylomela? from Bahamas
From: Troy Bartlett, April 19, 1999